


Ink Blots

by CanadianFreakshow, Kasena



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 01:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 26,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4767638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanadianFreakshow/pseuds/CanadianFreakshow, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasena/pseuds/Kasena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small series of birthday drabbles for the lovely ibelieveinahappilyeverafter!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shopping For Eye Candy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ibelieveinahappilyeverafter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ibelieveinahappilyeverafter/gifts).



The store was dead quiet, except for the whir of the machines and the sounds of the traffic outside. Andrew of course had the midnight shift and was unfortunately the only one in the tiny convenience store. With the kind of luck that he had, it honestly never surprised him.

 

He just had to stay up late and read. Which, would have been a dream come true when he was younger, but now it was pretty dang boring. The till wasn't one of the most comfortable things to lean back against and enjoy a good book, but at least it was something.

 

At this time of night only stragglers entered the store but it wasn’t often. Sometimes they were annoying drunks, and sometimes it was someone out late at night. It really just depended on the night.

 

It was about twenty minutes into his shift when the small bells attached to the door chimed and in walked a customer. He put the bookmark in his book and put it under the counter just so he didn’t have to deal with it later when the customer, hopefully, came to the counter. Usually when people came in at this hour it didn’t take them very long to find what they were looking for and be out on their way.

 

Andrew watched as the customer grabbed a small plastic basket and walked around dropping items in the it. It took about five minutes for the stranger to come to the counter with his basket of items and started taking them out placing them down so Andrew could ring them through.

 

They gave each other awkward gestures of acknowledgement and mumbles greetings before Andrew started. It was quite the collection of items that the man was buying, especially at that time of night.  

 

“So...have you been busy?” The customer all of a sudden asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Andrew could tell by the wince that he regretted the question immediately.

 

Andrew just stopped what he was doing, looked at the other man and raised his eyebrow before replying. "At 12:30 in the morning in an empty store? No. No not really.” It probably wasn't the nicest thing to say at that moment but with a question like that, who could blame him.

 

The customer winced again.“Okay sorry...really stupid question. Just...trying to break the ice I guess.”

 

Andrew blinked and the stranger. “You...do  realize that I am a convenience store cashier who is ringing through your strange and random items at an ungodly hour. Whom I doubt, unless you come here again at this hour, you will never see again right?”

 

Andrew turned away from the customer as he placed the rest of the items in bags and gathered up the total. He was about to tell the stranger what it was before the man all of a sudden spoke. “Well...we could definitely change that.”

 

To say the least, Andrew was taken aback. He gave the other man a look of confusion and replied. “E-Excuse me? If this is an attempt at flirting, I’m flattered but we have literally spent only five minutes together. I didn’t think it took that long to constitute an attempt at giving a number.”

 

The customer laughed and shook his head. “It doesn’t, but that definitely broke the ice. Though, it is pretty refreshing to have someone freak out over the fact that it’s too soon rather than the fact that I’m a guy.”

 

“So what. You do this often then?” With the questioning look he received, Andrew rolled his eyes. “Go into stores at a late hour, buy random items and then hit on the male cashier. That’ll be $42.60.”

 

“W-What? No! I don’t do that at all….I-I just meant that it happens when I try to ask another guy out!” Andrew raised his hands in front of him in a gesture of defense.

 

“Okay then. I was just asking. There’s really no reason to get so bent out of shape about it. ...Even if I accepted your offer, do you have anything specific planned?”

 

The man pulled out his debit card as he furrowed his brows. “Uh...no. Not really. Honestly? I wasn’t expecting to even get this far. I don’t usually so...uh this is kind of new for me.” Andrew entered the amount due in his part of the machine so the customer could pay.

 

“So you flirted and asked someone for their number but you never thought to actually plan an idea for a date just in case someone said yes finally?”

 

The customer’s cheeks lit up as he pressed buttons on the machine. “Uh….yes?”

 

Andrew shook his head in disbelief, rolling his eyes. “Wow...It’s quite obvious that you really don’t think before speaking, isn’t it?” When the machine beeped it’s approval, Andrew handed the customer his receipt. The man just nodded in agreement with a slight grimace.

 

“But uhm...even if I don’t have a plan yet uhm... here.” The man pulled a pen out of his pocket and scribbled something on the back of the receipt and handed to Andrew. “Call me. I’ll figure something out.”

 

Andrew looked down, and on the back of the receipt said a number and a name - Danny. When Andrew looked back up eventually, he realized the man had left and he was once again alone in the store.

 

 


	2. Confessions

Danny's breath caught as his back hit the mattress. Andrew grinned, "Now, isn't this much more comfortable?"

Danny found himself nodding, trying to get a word in. "I… Andrew, I'm…" He was unable to get another word out, as he soon found his mouth was occupied. Kissing Andrew. Again.

He gasped as the ghost's hand crawled under his shirt. "Hush, mon cher. No words. Only… action."

Danny shook like a leaf as the hand went higher and higher, until it suddenly stopped. Andrew frowned, looking at him. "Danny?"

"I'm trans! There, I said it!" He sat up, turning away from Andrew. Well, there certainly went the mood.

He felt shifting on the bed closer to him. "Danny…" Danny hunched in closer, wrapping his arms around himself. He could already  _hear_  that stupid pity. Pity he didn't need, especially from his boyfriend.

He shook his head, "Save it. I don't… I don't need to hear it. It's fine, anyway. It's not like my parents even care, so I don't have to worry about that."

Andrew looped an arm around his waist. "Mon cher… that doesn't matter, to me." He pressed a kiss to the side of Danny's face. "No matter what, you're always going to be my amazing boyfriend."

Danny turned towards him, giving him a small hopeful smile. "Really?" He gave a small laugh as Andrew gave the tip of his nose a kiss.

"Of course. Who else could I do this to?" He began peppering kisses all over Danny's face, giving him small pecks wherever he could reach.

Danny shook his head. "Well, but… you mean you're really okay with…"

Andrew pressed their foreheads together. "Yes, Danny. I am completely fine with it. To me, it doesn't change anything about you besides some of your physical aspects." His grin became more wicked. "Now. I believe we were in the middle of something?"

Danny felt his face and ears grow warm and he knew he was blushing furiously. He gave a shaky nod. "Yeah- but… but I don't wanna take it off… and I don't wanna… uh…"

Andrew gave a nod. "Alright. We'll do whatever you want."

Being pulled in for another kiss, Danny smiled. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have such an amazing boyfriend.


	3. My Heart Aches For You

Danny Fenton tapped his foot impatiently as he slumped in a plastic airport chair. He had been staring at the clock with a wicked intensity that made anyone that was around him slightly uncomfortable. The flight from France had been delayed by an hour and a half and the extra waiting had made him even more anxious than he had been before.

Normally if he had been waiting for someone at the airport he would be wasting his time browsing through the stores and buying things that in all honesty, he didn’t need. But this wasn’t just any person he was meeting. This was Andrew Riter. His best friend. His boyfriend.

Considering this was the first time meeting the man he was in love with, it made sense that he was nervous. Most people would of course find that weird and claim that the two of them didn’t know each other or that Andrew could very well be an internet creep but they didn’t know him like Danny did.

Throughout the two and half  years that Danny had known Andrew, they had went through more than most could understand. They had listened to each other’s problems and dealt with hardships. Of course Tucker and Sam had done that but there was always something easy about talking to Andrew. He could make him laugh like no one else and even though they had an extremely inconvenient time difference they had made it work.

They had been friends for about a year and a half before Danny started falling in love with his best friend. At first he had tried to deny it but it quickly had shown that he couldn’t. He then decided to keep it a closely guarded secret. He had cared about Andrew too much to hurt the close friendship they had created.

It had worked incredibly well until the fateful day when Andrew got a girlfriend who he had claimed to be in love with. He soon found that the small amount of time he had had to speak with his friend was dwindling and to be frank, it had broken his heart. He hid the pain until one day he broke down, wrote Andrew a heartfelt letter and confessed everything.

Andrew didn’t return his feelings until half a year later when he had broken up with that girlfriend and decided to give Danny a chance, despite the time difference and distance.

Danny snapped out of his thoughts of his boyfriend when he heard someone speaking over the intercom announce that the flight had arrived. He immediately jumped out of his seat and got as close as he thought appropriate to the door where Andrew would exit the plane and held his breath in anticipation.

In the next few minutes, passengers started exiting and Danny’s eyes searched every single passenger until they found who they were looking for.

There he was in his adorable purple trenchcoat struggling to carry all of his luggage which no doubt had way too many books stuffed into it. He resisted the urge to run towards him and instead shook while he took in the appearance of a real life Andrew mere metres in front of him.

It wasn’t until Andrew looked up and locked eyes with Danny, smiling his adorable smile, that Danny rushed towards him. When he reached the other man he enveloped him in a tight hug smiling like he’d just won the lottery. And if you’d asked him, he might as well have.

Andrew returned the hug, pulling Danny closer to him. “I can’t believe you’re here. I just...this is so incredible.”

Andrew looked up rolling his eyes. “You’re so dramatic Danny, you knew we would some day. There was no way either of us were going to get away with not meeting each other and you know it.”

Danny smiled, pulling away from the hug and wrapping an arm around his waist, pulling him away from the leaving passengers. “Come on...let’s go get your luggage.”


	4. Taking A Tumble

Andrew shook his head, looking at his paper again. Of course. He was such an idiot. He had spent so much time developing the characters he had forgotten one of the most important rules of creative writing. To not kill off characters unless it advanced the plot. He put his paper to his face with a sigh. No wonder he had only gotten a B+. The writing was certainly not his best. It was shoddy, decent at best. It wasn't his fault he had recently become taken with a raven haired beauty.

During his last class, he kept glancing his way, over the top of his notebook. Of course, he never seemed to notice. No wonder he had overheard his friends calling the boy clueless. He barely noticed when someone was absolutely, completely, head over heels-

And now he really was head over heels. Not seeing where he was going, Andrew had bumped into someone, falling to the ground. "My apologies." He began gathering his things, his books and notebooks having gotten strewn around the hallway. "I should have watched where I was going."

"No, no, it was my fault, really. It's no problem, dude." His hand hovered over his paper. He knew that voice. He'd know it anywhere. He slowly looked up to see Danny Fenton kneeling across from him. Danny pushed the paper towards him. "That one, judging by the good handwriting, is yours. Nice grade, by the way." He brushed his hair out of his face, looking up at Andrew. "Hey. I know you."

Andrew gave a nervous chuckle. "Hello. You know me. Cool. I mean, uh, yeah… you do… Do you?" He was mentally wincing at his terrible social skills. Maybe Randall  _was_  right in saying he needed to get out more.

Danny gave him a grin. "You're the really awesome writer in Creative Writing. I'm Danny."

"Andrew." He shook his head, handing Danny the book he had been holding. "Sorry, I think this is yours."

"Thanks." They stood, and Andrew couldn't seem to get the stupid grin off his face. As Danny put his things back in his bag, he gave Andrew a smile that had his legs getting weak. "I'll see you in Creative Writing."

His head shook in a nod. "Y- yeah. Creative Writing." Holding his things to his chest, he waved slightly. As Danny left, he leaned against the lockers with a dreamy sigh. If he thought he couldn't get him out of his head at first, now he had absolutely no hope.

The way his blue eyes sparkled behind his hair, the dazzling smile he had given him. He was looking forward to Creative Writing. He wouldn't miss it for the world.


	5. Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

This was unusual for Andrew. It wasn’t so much that he had a crush or found someone attractive that was the problem. It was the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about a certain visitor of the library he worked at. Crushes came and went for him but this...well this seemed different.

Some days he would find himself staring for long periods at a time from behind book shelves where he was putting books away and would constantly have to catch himself. One time, he actually caught himself physically drooling. Luckily no one had seen him, so that saved him the embarrassment of having someone give him knowing looks.

If Andrew had the guts, he would walk right up to him and say something. Anything. Ask him out. Give him his number. Just something. But unfortunately the poor man was too embarrassed. I mean, it wasn’t like he could just walk up and say “Oh hey I’ve been kind of drooling over you, literally, for months but I was too nervous to say anything.”

Knowing Andrew, it wouldn’t work out very well. It wasn’t until one day that he finally actually talked to the stranger. He was minding his own business for once and was putting away books in a section where, to his disappointment, had no view of the man. He didn’t even realize someone was there until a hand reached next to his head and pulled out a book.

Andrew more or less jumped at that, clutching his heart and almost screamed. Instead it was a loud whisper. He was a librarian after all. “Jesus!”

The man smirked and raised his eyebrow. “Not quite, but I’m sure you know where the biblical section is if you want to find him.”

After all of that, the stranger turned around with no other words and made his way back to his table. Andrew was left, still clutching his heart and slid down the bookshelf. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to still his beating heart.

The second time he spoke to the stranger, he was sitting at his librarian desk, pretending to read his book. He was honestly trying but like all of his other attempts of looking away from the man, it was a massive fail.

When he saw him stand up and start walking over to his desk, his heart once again sped up and he actually started reading the page he had been reading over and over for an hour. When the man stopped at the desk he cleared his throat and Andrew but the bookmark in it. “Yes?”

“Uhm...I was wondering. This is sort of embarrassing but could you help me find a book?”

Andrew raised his eyebrow and blinked. “Uhm...I’m the librarian. Why would that be embarrassing? That’s...literally one of my jobs.” Andrew mentally berated himself for sounding like a pretentious ass. How on earth was he supposed to get the man’s attention if he was a jerk to him?

The man flushed in embarrassment. “Well.... it’s not so much asking for help that’s embarrassing. It’s more the fact that the...content is embarrassing.”

“I’m a complete stranger. Trust me, I won’t judge you for looking for a book.”

The man grimaced and leaned down to whisper. “Okay...well...in school I’m kind of doing a project on abuse and I thought with all the hype with the books and the movie that it would be a good idea...It’s a really popular...erotic novel…”

This took Andrew back quite a bit but he tried to look unphased by it. “Is it...by E. L. James?” The man nodded, flushing even more. “Let me give you some advice, there’s a lot of research on the internet done by people have already read the book. Then not only do you save yourself from that atrocity, but you also get detailed information.”

The man considered this for a moment then nodded. “ Thanks. I might actually take your advice.” And with the the man turned and left once more.

It wasn’t until ten minutes later that a thought popped into Andrew’s mind that maybe the man was looking to read the book for pleasure and the project was just a cover up. His face lit up immediately and he mentally screamed. Was this man into that...sort of thing. Would he care if he was? He decided that yes. Even if he was, he was definitely still into the man.

But that was assuming that the man would even want Andrew back, which he highly doubted that he did.

The next time he met the man was when the library was completely empty except for the two of them due to it being a holiday. For some reason though, he still had to work. He wasn’t exactly complaining because it conveniently gave him a good reason to avoid Randall. And to stare at the man.

It was definitely surprising that the man was at the library on a holiday.

Nothing eventful had happened in the library until Andrew finished one of his own books and decided to go find another one. He was minding his own business, looking at the back of the books and deciding on a book, when he all of a sudden found himself cornered by the man.

He made a very squeaky yelp as he jumped back. “Stop doing that! My heart can’t take it!”

The man didn’t reply. He just crossed his arms and stared hard at Andrew. “You know, I like to think that I’ve been very patient with you.”

Andrew blinked several times and gave the man an incredibly confused look. “Uh....w-what are you talking about?”

“This! You! I was so sure that you had a thing for me with all of that staring you do, but now I’m not sure. I mean I thought by now you would have said something!”

“W-wait.” Andrew stuttered, blush lighting up his face. “You know about my staring? H-How?! I thought I was hiding it well.”

The man gave him a sympathetic look and shook his head. “I want to lie just to make you feel better but, after I saw you drooling and reading the same page over and over for hours, I kind of figured. You seem like a guy who reads a lot. I doubt you’re that slow of a reader.”

“O-Oh...yeah...I guess that was kind of obvious then huh?” Andrew nervously laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

“So why haven’t you done it? If you like me so much why not just come and ask me out? I mean I thought I made it pretty obvious I liked you back!”

Andrew, the very graceful man he is, practically choked on his spit. “W-wait what? You do? How did I not get that? I mean...I usually pick up on things like that?”

“Uh...I dunno dude. But...you know, I would really love that number of yours...I mean I think after months of staring at each other, it’s not too far out that I should ask.”

Starstruck, Andrew pulled out a pen and a...crumpled candy wrapper. Well that was definitely dignified. He rolled his eyes and himself and shook slightly as he awkwardly used the book he was holding as a writing surface and scribbled out his number. When he was done, he handed it over. “T-There. Uhm...so I guess you’ll call me...well I guess obviously. That’s what you use numbers for...uh...yeah.”

“It’s Danny by the way.” Andrew tilted his head in confusion and the man continued. “My name. It’s Danny.”

“O-Oh...mines Andrew…”

Danny smiled and pointed to Andrew’s name tag. “Yeah…I uh...know.”

“Oh...right...so, can I ask you something?” When received a nod in confirmation he continued. “Was that book you asked me about actually for a project, or was it for...other reasons?”

“N-No! It was actually for a project! I swear!”

Andrew nodded and raised his hands in defense. “O-Okay. I believe you! I was just making sure.”

“U-Uhm...if that’s all...I think I’m gonna go...thanks for the number. I’ll uh...call you.” Danny grabbed his books and started walking out. He was too busy looking at Andrew and wasn’t looking where he was going, causing him to bump into a table, almost losing his footing. Andrew laughed as Danny swore but gave him a thumbs up before rushing out of the library.

Knowing Danny was certainly going to be a trip.


	6. Here It Goes Again

David paused in his steps, narrowing his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder. As his hair stood up on the back of his neck, his back straightened. Someone was watching him. Then again, that wasn't very unusual, seeing as he  _was_  a Fenton. It took the general public until 1963 to catch on that maybe the Fentons weren't all cracked up old kooks. That Martin King fellow had probably helped with some of that. So now, those who bore the name Fenton were becoming more respected in their ways of hunting. And one of the top rules of hunting was to know when you were being hunted.

He slowly continued his walk, listening for the telltale sign of someone's footsteps falling in line with his. Not hearing it, he rose an eyebrow, not daring to look again. To do so would mean he was on to whoever was following him. And he had no doubt that he was being followed. As he got to his house, he unlocked the door, pushing it open. He may have been a bit paranoid, locking his door, but better safe than sorry. Locking it as he entered, he sighed, making two cups of coffee.

Both cups in his hand, he turned, seeing a man in a purple jacket standing there, in front of the open window. David blinked, offering one of the cups. "Coffee?"

The man crossed his arms, raising his eyebrow. "A stranger appears in your home, could possibly be a murderer for all you know, and you offer him coffee?"

David shrugged. "It's the polite thing to do. Chair?" Sitting in his own seat, David watched the man slowly sink into the one across from him. "What are you, anyway? Skeptic? Assassin? Person needing help with ghosts? Tax collector?"

The man took a sip of his cup, giving him a strange look. "Why is it you're being so charitable?"

He shrugged. "You just seem like that kind of guy, you know? Are people not normally so giving?"

He snorted, "Not the people I typically meet." The man took another sip of his drink. "You certainly are a strange one, David Fenton."

He waved his hand. "Please, no, just Davey. David is my uncle."

The man inclined his head with a smile. "Alright, then, Davey."

Davey put a hand to his heart with a smile. "Alas, it seems you've read me like an open book, but I barely know anything about you. So. Tell me your name. It will stay between us."

The man paused, setting his drink down, and taking in a deep breath. Davey narrowed his eyes, analyzing him. Judging by the belt and how closed off he was being, probably an assassin. No clue why he'd gone after him, but obviously someone wanted him dead. "Andrew Riter."

Davey rose an eyebrow. "Riter? Really? Are… you an author?"

Andrew snickered. "You know, I think you're the only one who's made that joke to my face. I'm not sure how many other people made that connection, to be honest, but they never ask that. As it so happens, I am."

He nodded, leaning forward with a grin. "Oh, really? So, doing some research, then?" Just had to catch him in a lie.

Andrew gave a small shrug. "I suppose you could say that. What is it, exactly, you do, Davey?"

Now that had surprised him. Wouldn't he already know everything about him? One could only assume that when they had an assassin sent after him, it was because they knew something about them. Maybe his employer never told him any details. "I hunt ghosts. It's what us Fentons are known for."

Andrew gave a nod. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense." He gave a curious glance around the room. "I noticed it's a bit small, are you the only one that lives here?"

Davey shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Yes, I am. Why? Hoping for a roommate?" He gave the man a devilish grin, who only rose an eyebrow in return.

"If I were, I would have better luck looking in a bar."

He winced with a grin. "Ouch. That was cold."

"Well, so is this coffee. You should make better coffee."

Davey grinned, slowly rising from his chair. Here went… everything. He did his best to relax as he turned his back on the man, walking into the kitchen. Once he was standing at the sink, he heard the slight creak of the chair. He had to say he was impressed by how lightly the man stepped. He could barely even hear his footfalls. As he washed out his cup, there was a voice next to his ear. "I really wish this didn't have to happen."

He grit his teeth as the knife sunk into his stomach. Clutching at the countertop, he gave a bitter chuckle. "Yeah, so do I. Getting stabbed hurts like a son of a bitch."

"You… aren't surprised."

Davey shook his head. "Not really, no. You were way too secretive, and your belt looks too… assassiny. That and I heard you following me outside. And your pocket has a hole in it, so I saw one of the knives."

"But then… why did you turn your back on me? You didn't even try to fight back."

"Cause I was already bringing you down with me." With more effort than he would have liked, he looked over his shoulder to the assassin who furrowed his brow. "I poisoned you."

He shouldn't really have been surprised by the man's scoff. "You think I'm that foolish? I know how to check if anything I'm given has been tainted."

"Really? You know that ectoplasm is deadly to the human body?" Andrew's face paled. "Figured not. It's a stronger acid than stomach acid. You should start feeling the effects any second."

At this point, Davey was impressed with Andrew's lack of reaction. In fact, the man gave him a smirk. "Fifteen years, and someone finally took down the Priest of Death."

Davey rose an eyebrow, going down onto his knees as he felt his legs getting weak. Looking down at his shirt, he saw it stained with red. Darn, he really liked this one, too. "You're him, huh? I expected something more… subtle."

Andrew gave a sigh as he put a hand to his stomach. "Subtle was thrown out the window I came in when you turned around and offered me coffee."

"Well, it was the nice thing to do." Davey sighed, slowly laying down on the kitchen ground. "Really glad I mopped recently."

Shaking his head, Andrew lied next to him. "I suppose so. I can honestly say I didn't see myself dying, this way."

"You didn't see yourself dying at all, did you?"

"Not this soon."

"Cocky bastard."

"Pretentious prick." Nails tapping on the ground, Andrew looked up. "You know, you seemed like a nice person. I wish I didn't have to kill you."

Davey chuckled, "Yeah, you're not so bad yourself."

"Perhaps, in another life, we would meet again."

He groaned, "You're one of  _those_?"

Andrew shook his head again. "Just shut up and hold my hand while we die."

"You're a romantic sap. I think we would've gotten along just fine."

As Davey's vision blacked out and he felt his eyes close, he heard Andrew next to him as they interlaced their fingers. "I believe so, too."

Danny shook his head, trying to sort through what the hell he just saw. After Andrew had slipped up and called him Davey, it was like… like he was another person, seeing something totally different. But, he was still a Fenton in… whatever the hell he just saw. He thought over every bit of it. Another life, huh?

He turned to Andrew, who was rinsing off the plates. "You know, you suck at reincarnation."

Andrew froze, keeping his eyes lowered. "How much do you know?"

"All of it." He floated up, wrapping his arms around Andrew's shoulders as his tail curled around his waist. "I mean, I guess you were half right. You just… didn't live."

"I know, Danny, but I killed you, and now you're back and…  _why?_  Why are you still…"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm still here because I love you. And like I said, if things had been different, I probably would've loved you then, too. We're mates, after all. No changing that."

Andrew hung his head with a sigh. "And you call  _me_  the romantic sap."

"You're also a cocky bastard."

"Pretentious prick."

Danny shot him a playful glare. "Hey! You're the one who killed me!"

Andrew went back to washing the dishes. "And you killed me. All's fair in love and war."

"But I was doing it in self defense!"

"You didn't even know who I was."

"And wasn't that a shame?"

Receiving a sweet kiss, Andrew gave a smirk. "I rather like how things turned out."

Danny laid his head on Andrew's shoulder, still viciously clinging to his back. "Yeah, I do too." And he wouldn't give a thing to change it.


	7. A Glimmer Of Hope

It was a cold evening as Andrew walked along the streets of the city, the soft sound of rain pattering on his umbrella. It was a good idea, he decided, that he decided to bring it along to shelter him in case the possibility of rain turned out true. If he hadn’t he would have been easily soaked to the bone by now.

Several less prepared citizens were huddling close to buildings and under bus stops trying to keeps dry and looking at Andrew and his umbrella enviously. Andrew ignored most of them...until he saw a figure up ahead in completely inappropriate clothes for the weather, be completely splashed with water by a passing vehicle.

Andrew winced in sympathy and had a strange urge to help the stranger. Even more strange was that he decided to actually follow this urge and walked up to the man who was obviously shivering uncontrollably. He moved his umbrella so that it covered both him and the frozen man and he spoke. “Here...it looks like you could use the shelter.”

The stranger jumped and turned around, staring at Andrew with wide confused eyes. “T-thank you...y-you really don’t have to do that though…”

Andrew raised an eyebrow at the stranger. “So...are you saying that you don’t want the shelter after getting even more soaked than you were and are in the freezing rain?”

The stranger immediately shook his head, staring in shock. “N-No! Not at all! I appreciate it a lot I just...was just making sure you knew you didn’t have to...especially since I’m already soaked…”

Andrew looked at the man up and down and noticed that  he was carrying a duffel bag and was wearing clothes that looked old and ratty. “What’s your name.” He asked suddenly.

The man was taken aback but answered anyways. “Danny…”

“I’m Andrew. Say...do you happen to have somewhere to stay tonight Danny?”

Danny looked shocked and hesitantly shook his head. Andrew figured that would be his answer. He thought hard for a moment before replying slowly. “You know...I don’t usually do something like this but...would you like to stay the night at my house? I have a warm shower, good food and a semi-comfortable couch. It only has to be the night if you want but I think it would be better than these cold streets.”

Danny gaped in disbelief. It was almost as if this boy hadn’t been shown much kindness in the past little while. “R-really? You would do that for a c-complete stranger?”

Andrew frowned slightly but nodded. “Like I said, I don’t usually do this but since you seem different, I’ll make this one exception. Now come on, before I change my mind.”

And with that Andrew started slowly walking away the way he had been going before he had stopped. Danny quickly followed him, making sure he was covered by the umbrella because it was evident, even if he was soaked, he didn’t fancy getting more wet. As they walked in silence, Danny would warily look up at Andrew, but he still looked curious.

To be honest, the staring got a bit annoying after a while and he eventually got fed up. Andrew snapped his head towards Danny and snapped unintentionally. “Can I help you?”

Danny shook his head and blushed mumbling a quick apology. He didn’t look again after that and it almost made Andrew sad. Almost. They didn’t talk for the rest of the walk to his apartment and when they walked inside, Andrew wasted no time giving orders to the younger man.

“I want you to go have a warm shower right now. I’m going to assume that you don’t have any clean clothes, am I right.” Danny nodded. “Just as I thought. I’ll let you borrow some of my nightwear. The shower is in the bathroom, which is there.” He pointed to the door containing said room.

Andrew quickly ran to his room to get the old night clothes of his. He decided that if the boy didn’t have clean clothes that he wouldn’t have any clean underwear so he grabbed an old pair of those as well.  Then he returned to hear the sound of the shower running. He figured that the polite thing would be to leave the clothes outside of the bathroom door and decided to make a pot of coffee while he waited for the boy to come out from the shower.

The coffee was halfway finished by the time the shower stopped and finished by the time the boy exited the bathroom fully dressed in the clothes Andrew picked out for him. “Feel better?” Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow as the boy approached.

Danny nodded and sat down at one of the stools in the kitchen. “I made some coffee if you want any. I figured a warm beverage might help.”

“Y-Yeah...coffee would be nice thanks. So...I’m guessing you’re going to interrogate me about why I’m out on the streets without anywhere to stay huh?”

Andrew hummed in reply and placed a cup of coffee in front of Danny. “Hmm...I guess you’re smarter than you look.”

“H-Hey! I didn’t get kicked out because I was an idiot o-or a freeloader or a druggie okay? I’m actually a really smart student…” Andrew raised his eyebrows for the thousandth time that night and started making his coffee how he liked it.

“Oh? So pray tell, what exactly is the reason that you were kicked out. Not that it’s much of my business, I’m just curious. Mostly because I don’t want to find out my house was robbed or something in the morning.”

Danny shot him a glare before crossing his arms. “Not all people on the street are there because of something being their fault! Some are in debt or...or have parents that aren’t accepting…”

“And is that the reason that you’re on the street? Because you’re parents weren’t accepting of something?”

Danny nodded and looked away frowning. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms and sighed. “Yeah...they...kicked me out because they couldn’t accept what I am...who I am.”

Andrew tapped the countertop in thought before asking quietly. “Are you...gay?”

Danny just shrugged a bit and picked up his coffee cup. “I guess you could say that…” Danny then took a sip of the coffee and Andrew was about to reply when there was a heavy knock at the door. Danny jumped at the sound and dropped the cup, glass shattering everywhere. Andrew was about to scold when he saw the colour draining from Danny’s face.

“D-Do you h-have somewhere I can hide?” Andrew blinked in shock but didn’t quite question it yet.

“In my bedroom closet. I doubt anyone could find you there. Well...I sure as hell won’t let anyone find you there.” Andrew then walked up to the door as he heard Danny running to his room and the door closing. When he opened the door, he found it was just his neighbour looking to borrow a cup of sugar and as much as he wanted to tell the man to piss off, he just got the sugar and sent the man on his way.

Once he was gone, Andrew made his way to his room and crouched next to the closet. “Psst. The coast is clear. It’s safe to come out. It was a false alarm.”  
  
He heard a deep sigh of relief and Danny crawled out of the closet, sitting down next to Andrew. “So...I’m guessing you were worried that those were your parents...Though, I’m not sure why you’re so worried. It’s not like your parents can figure out where you are right?”

Danny gave him a sad look and shook his head. “My parents...are ghost hunters you see...so they kind of always wanted a way of tracking me down just in case I got attacked or kidnapped by a ghost or something. So...when I was a baby they got a...tracking chip put inside me and my sister.”

Danny pulled down the sleeve of his left arm down to his elbow. The arm had angry red scars, some looked fresh. “Danny are these…”

Danny shook his head no immediately. “No...trust me, it was not pleasant but...I just...I just wanted the chip out so bad but...It hurt and I didn’t want to go to the hospital because I just knew that on my own I couldn’t pay for those bills. The older ones are from attempts before I got kicked out but I chickened out on those because I was worried what my parents would say if they found I had tried to get the chip out.”

Andrew gently took Danny’s arm in his hands and softly stroked the scars. He was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion that someone would be put through so much in the desperation of trying to make themself safe from the very people who were supposed to protect and cherish their child. It made his blood boil.

Without even thinking, Andrew leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to one of the scars and Danny took a sharp intake of breath. Andrew didn’t stop until every single one of the scars had been kissed and when he looked back up, tears were shining bright in Danny’s eyes.

Danny smiled a watery smile before grabbing Andrew and leaning against his chest back against the bed. Andrew closed his eyes and brought Danny closer to him and just as he was falling asleep, he almost missed the whispered “Thank you…”

*****************

Andrew awoke to a loud pounding on the door. It woke them both almost simultaneously and Danny’s eyes were wide, with a matching pale face. “Go back into the closet. If it really is them I will not let them get to you. Not if I can help it.”Andrew growled and Danny frantically nodded, rushing back into the closet, closing the doors.

Andrew closed the bedroom door and cautiously approached the door. He stilled when he heard voices.

“Are you really sure he’s in here Jack?”

“Of course I’m sure Mads! This baby never lies! Well...unless you count that one time we lost Danny at the carnival when he was seven...or when he ran off at the grocery store when he was ten. But I’m certain that with my recent tweaks not even that evil ghost can throw the tracker off!”

Andrew was certain that these were the parents that Danny had spoken of. He stood up straight and finished his trip to the door, opening it. “Hello? Can I ask what the commotion is outside of my room at 2:30 in the morning.” Andrew said with a hiss of annoyance.

The couple outside flushed and the woman introduced the two of them. “Hi. Sorry to bother you, we’re Jack and Maddie Fenton and we couldn’t help but notice that the tracker that leads us to our son, leads us here. You see he ran away from home and he’s a bit of a trouble child so we’re here to come pick him up!”

Andrew feigned ignorance and confusion. “No I’m sorry. I’m the only one in this apartment. You must have the wrong one.”

The woman sighed and gave her husband a look. “Jack! I thought you said it worked!”

The man was busy fiddling with a different machine and his brows furrowed together. “Well that’s strange...my ghost detector also detects a ghost here!” He narrowed his eyes at Andrew and stepped forward. “I think that this man is lying. Sir if you’re hiding our son, you should know that we have every right to bring him home.”

Andrew hissed in anger at the couple. “Don’t you dare come in here. This is my home and I’m sure Danny is old enough to decide that he doesn’t want to come back to a home who can’t accept who he is! I still can’t understand why parents can’t love their children no matter what! Even if they are attracted to men!”

The couple stopped in their tracks, eyebrows raised in shock. “Is that what he told you? That we didn’t accept that he was bisexual?”

“Now that I think about it...no he didn’t tell me...he just sort of implied that…”

Jack once again stepped forward as if to want to enter again. “See? Just a misunderstanding! We accept him just fine!”

Andrew stopped them once again, crossing his arms. “No...I don’t feel right about this. Just because I got the reason wrong doesn’t erase the way he seems utterly petrified by even the thought of encountering you both. You must remember and respect that this is my property and only I get to determine whether or not people are allowed on it.”

The woman finally snapped and growled in anger. “I don’t care. My son is in danger and is currently being possessed by an evil ghost and I won’t rest until I know that he is safe from that...thing. Sir it could be very dangerous to be around Danny. You could get hurt!”  
  
Andrew huffed in annoyance. “I don’t care. I think I can tell if someone is evil or not and if he wanted to hurt me, he would’ve done so already! My suggestion is to leave before I call the cops. And trust me, I will.”

The couple stared at Andrew in anger and frustration but stepped back. “Fine.” The woman started. “But I hope you get yourself killed with how idiotic you’re being. Really, trusting a ghost. What an absolute joke.”

“I’m okay with that.” And with that, Andrew slammed the door and locked it, stepping back and taking a deep breath. He then proceeded to walk back to his room and sat against his bed near the closet. “You can come out now. Literally and figuratively. The coast is clear.”

Danny nervously came out of the closet and collapsed next to Andrew. Andrew looked over at him. “So...if you weren’t kicked out because of your sexuality...what were you kicked out for?”

Danny swallowed nervously before replying. “This is going to sound super crazy but...just hear me out...I’m...Half ghost.” As he said it, Danny winced, and looked away.

Andrew blinked in surprise. “W-wait what? Is that why a ghost detector detected you?

Danny nodded and sighed sadly. “Yeah...Wh-when I was fourteen I...well I died. Well technically half died. My parents had this thing called a ghost portal they had been working on and it didn’t work. So I decided to try it out for myself and...I was electrocuted and given ghost powers. Not sure how that science works but...I’m real so it must. Recently, my parents who are ghost hunters found out and I thought they’d be accepting but...I was wrong. I was so so so wrong. Now they seem to think I’m just being overshadowed by an evil ghost. Not that...I could ever possibly be a half ghost. No...ghosts are evil in their eyes.”

Tears were falling down Andrew’s cheeks and he leaned over and pulled Danny into his arms. “Either way...whether it was because of your sexuality or because of your state as a human...your parents had no right to hurt you like that. Like I said earlier. I will protect you. I will protect you with everything I have. I don’t care if I met you only mere hours ago. You are already so precious to me and no matter what, I will keep you safe. For as long as you’ll allow me to.”

When he finished his speech and Danny had his own tears running down his cheeks, Andrew stood up and pulled Danny up with him. That night they cuddled under the blankets of Andrew’s bed, holding eachother close.

Even though they barely knew each other, they already knew that what they had was special.


	8. Whoops

"Hey, Fenton!" With a sigh, Danny stopped walking, tightening his grip on his backpack strap. This wouldn't be good. "You messed up, or something?"

He turned towards the people who had decided to insult him. It wasn't even Dash and his regular crew, it was just a few… nobodies. He'd barely seen them around school, before. "What are you talking about?"

The one who seemed to be the leader crossed his arms. "Saw what you were doing last class."

Danny rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he leaned back on his leg. "Oh really? And what was I doing, exactly? I don't really pay attention to anything, during class."

One of them snickered. "I think you pay attention pretty well."

The leader threw a glare back at him. "Saw you checking out the nerd in the purple coat."

"I was not-"

"Can it, shrimp!" He took a step back, watching them. "So, you too good for girls, huh? Or just so bad you gotta go looking at everyone you can't have."

"I… I'm not…" Danny looked around, hoping for an escape. The guys had formed a half circle around him, caging him to the wall.

"Danny! There you are!" The boys immediately looked back, one being taken out of the circle and shoved to the side. Andrew Riter threw an arm around Danny's shoulders with a smile. "I was wondering where you had gotten off to."

The leader of the group scowled. "The hell are you doing here, nerd?"

Andrew gave them an innocent look. "What? I can't worry about my boyfriend?" He leaned down, capturing Danny's lips in a soft kiss before standing back up to smirk at the group. "Were you saying something?"

"Ew. What, you actually…  _like_  him?"

Danny felt his face get warm as Andrew spoke. "Of course I do. He's funny, and smart, and absolutely adorable."

The leader backed up, his group following him. "Fucking fags. Stay the hell away from us!"

Andrew took a step towards them with a growl. "You better watch out, or I'll  _kiss_  you."

One of the lackies shook his friend's arm. "Let's get outta here, man!"

As they ran, Andrew huffed. "Intolerable brutes." He turned to Danny. "Are you alright? I hope you understand why I did that."

Danny gave a nod, and a half smile. "No, yeah, totally. It's fine. Thanks." As the two walked the halls, Danny looked up at him curiously. "So… did you really mean everything you said?"

Andrew chuckled, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "I'll let you figure that out. I'm glad you so enjoy the sight of me."

He walked off, leaving Danny stuck in place trying to process what just happened. It didn't take long for him to speed after the teen. "Hey, wait up!"


	9. Mine

The first day that Andrew went to college had so far been an absolute nightmare. First, he had been late. It was absolutely devastating. Andrew was never late to anything and it was all Randy’s fault. Though Randy was the cause of a lot of Andrew’s grief, this was absolutely ridiculous. How on earth could Andrew be late to the very first day of college? What if he was labeled as the person who was late?

Okay so that was perhaps a little exaggerated but that didn’t make Andrew any less angry at his brother and had gotten the full angry Andrew experience. The second horrible thing that day, was to walk into his new dorm and find his, what he assumed to be his new roommate, already having his new room in havoc. Boxes and garbage were scattered everywhere, music blasting and he already had company.

Andrew’s eyes drifted across the room as he took in the mess of his new home. “Uhm...hello there?”

The man who he assumed was his new roommate immediately, sporting a large friendly grin on his face, holding out his hand to be shaken. “Hi! You must be my roomie. I’m Danny, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Oh! And these two are my friends Sam and Tucker. They go here too.”

Andrew eyed the hand for a moment and debated whether or not he should ignore it. Reluctantly he decided the better route for his future in the dorm room would be to shake it and he loosely did so. “Pleasure...I assume you’re going to clean up the mess on my side of the room correct?”

Danny’s smile wilted a bit and his two friends glared at Andrew. It wasn’t the friendliest thing to say within moments of meeting one another but it definitely wasn’t unwarranted. After all, roommates should respect each other’s property...right?

Apparently with Danny, that wasn’t exactly always the case. Andrew eventually discovered that despite his initial appearance, he wasn’t as much of a slob as he appeared. Well, that was probably mostly because Andrew would always passive aggressively say something or leave a note if he wasn’t keeping his side clean. Or if it was encroaching in on his space.

Then there was the problem that sometimes. Just sometimes, that Danny would take Andrew’s things. Danny would claim he was ‘just borrowing’ them but, by definition, Andrew would call that stealing. They would of course be returned (eventually) but it still annoyed Andrew to absolutely no end.

It wasn’t until Andrew walked in on Danny reading one of his books, that he finally had enough and just snapped. There he was laying on his bed, relaxing and acting as if his little paws weren’t on his property.

As soon as he saw the sight, Andrew slammed the door to the bedroom so hard that it echoed. Danny immediately jumped up, looking almost as if he was ready to attack whatever had just caused the loud commotion, but soon returned back to normal when he realized that it was just Andrew. Instead, a confused look appeared on his face. “Andrew? What’s wrong?”

Andrew glared and stomped straight up to Danny before poking him in the chest. “How dare you. I have let you off the hook many times for stealing my stuff but this? This is completely unforgivable.”

Danny blinked and raised his hands in the air in defense, shocked at how angry Andrew was. “Woah dude wait. What did I steal from you that was so bad this time?”

Andrew angrily pointed towards his book and growled. “My book. You stole my book. No one is allowed to take my books.”

Danny raised his eyebrows and looked awkward and terrified. He immediately grabbed the book and handed it back to Andrew. “Woah man I’m sorry. I didn’t know but...I mean...It’s just a book. There’s no reason to get so bent out of shape about it.”

And if Danny had thought Andrew had been angry before...well that paled in comparison to his fury now. “Just a book. Just. A. Book?” Andrew then grabbed the front of Danny’s shirt and pulled him close, hissing. “How dare you Daniel Fenton. How dare you. Whether it is ‘Just a book’ or not it is still my private property. And you still stole it. But more importantly. That is my books. And no one touches my books.”

At that moment, Danny was genuinely scared for his life and he had no idea how he wasn’t going to get out of this mess. Then he did the one and only thing that could possibly hope to get him out of it. Either that or he would be worse off than he was. And leaned forward and pressed his lips to Andrew’s.

Andrew immediately recoiled in shock and his eyes widened. In his shock, he completely dropped Danny to the ground and practically ran out of the room in attempt to process what the hell just happened in there.

It wasn’t until hours later that Andrew reluctantly returned to his dorm room, hoping that Danny was asleep by then. He snuck into it quietly, glad that it was dark in the room and tried to crawl under his covers without making a sound. His hope was shattered though when the lights snapped on and there was Danny, arms crossed, looking unimpressed with his roommate.

“Okay so...I get the need to go out and clear your mind after what happened...but not until 12:45 in the freaking morning. Do you have any idea how much I worried? You know, I might act like a jerk some days...like today...but that does not mean that I don’t care if you’re gone until the late hours of the morning okay? I had no idea where you had gone. Once it got late I checked the places you usually go and you weren’t at the library. And you weren’t at the park and the bookstore was already closed so I couldn’t go there. And I even called Sam and Tucker to help and no one had seen you! And not only that but you didn’t have you phone. Do you know how stupid that is? I mean-”

Danny’s babbling was cut off by a very emotional Andrew who, like earlier that day, grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. “Just...shut up Danny…” And with that Andrew pressed his lips hard against Danny’s who let out a sound of surprise before kissing back.

After a while Danny pulled back and said. “Never worry me like that again okay?”

Andrew nodded before leaning in for another kiss.


	10. Hop Skip And Jump

Danny crossed his arms, looking down at his feet. He was certainly not pleased with this arrangement. It was the big night of the show, on Friday, and not only was it his first  _real_  performance, it was his first solo. And of course, with his luck, he had to share the stage with that Riter character from the other side of town. Who even knew the guy  _did_  ballet?! And why did it have to be  _this_  dance?! Of course, Clockwork had told him that was how it should be. His instructor's name wasn't actually Clockwork, but that was what everyone called him by the strict schedule he went by. At this point, Danny had forgotten his real name.

"Do I really have to?"

He winced at Clockwork's sigh. "Yes, you do. It's for the best." Danny looked up at him as Clockwork smiled. "This is how the two dance schools are going to finally not only hold a truce, but hopefully unite. If we're lucky, we'll be able to do more shows together."

He bit his lip. "Yeah, but… I mean, why do I have to do the dance with  _him?_ "

"Because he is the best dancer they have, and right now, you are the best dancer we have."

Danny felt himself go red, and he looked back down at his feet. "I… I am?"

"Yes, you are. I think you and Andrew could learn a lot from each other."

As Clockwork smiled down at him, Danny rolled his eyes. "What could I learn from  _him?_  He's just a know it all. It's bad enough I go to school with him."

Clockwork chuckled as he heard the front door open. "I think you'll be seeing things a little differently, soon enough."

Danny turned towards the door, raising his eyebrow. There Andrew was, with who Danny could only assume was his instructor. He looked all smug, with his stupid leotard and tights, and glasses, and hair brushed all neat. Danny combed his fingers through his hair with a pout. "Thanks for the heads up."

"You're welcome." Clockwork smiled, shaking the woman's hand. "Good afternoon, Sylvia."

She smiled. "Good afternoon. This, I'm sure you can tell, is Andrew. And I assume this is…"

"I'm Danny." He watched Andrew, who gave him a sneer. He stuck his tongue out at him.

Clockwork rose an eyebrow. "Be civil."

Sylvia frowned. "Andrew, be nice."

Andrew gave a huff, sticking out his hand for Danny to shake. "I hope it won't be complete torture dancing with you in the near future."

Danny gave him a sunny smile, taking the hand and squeezing it as they shook. "I hope you don't have two left feet."

Clockwork rolled his eyes, glancing up at the clock. "Come along, time for rehearsal. Andrew, I take it you've learned your solo?"

Andrew gave a stiff nod. "Of course. Although I have not learned what we dance, when dancing together."

Sylvia nodded. "I thought it better to save that for until he had his partner."

Clockwork nodded. "Yes, that sounds fine. I didn't teach Danny his part for that, either. They can learn it, together. So, would you like to get started?"

"Sounds splendid." Hearing the unsaid command, Danny and Andrew went to opposite sides of the large room. Sylvia clapped her hands together as she shouted, "Five, six, seven, eight!"

Danny watched as Andrew began, counting the counts in his head until his entrance. He watched Andrew's slim form, moving fluidly around the open space, making use of its size. His eyes widened. He didn't realize how…  _well_  he danced. His form was nearly perfect. His toes were pointed nearly the entire time, and he kept his back straight, unless specifically bending. And the way he put so much passion into it… but his face was so emotionless. It was as though he didn't have a care in the world about what he was doing.

He was pulled out of his small world as the dancer fumbled, falling to the floor. Andrew stayed kneeling on his knees, his hand forming a fist. " _Merde!"_

As Sylvia shook her head, Andrew walked back to his starting position. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, if he could get Andrew to put more emotion into it.


	11. Where To Put You?

The day had started out normal enough. Danny had woken up, went to work and like usual. He worked at a small bookstore that, in all honesty, didn’t get busy often. There would be one or two customers every once in a while, but that’s what he got for not working at a big name store.

So instead, to pass the time he would talk to his co-workers. One of those co-workers being a guy named Andrew who looked exactly like the kind of guy who would work at a book store. It definitely helped that the guy read and even wrote books. Books that were actually sold in said store. Danny had read some of them and secretly, he was probably one of Andrew’s biggest fans. Not that he would tell the guy though.

Usually during slow times they casually talked about the simple things and just stayed at being those awkward casual friends who talked daily, but they barely actually knew that much about each other.

That was until Danny randomly brought up Harry Potter. It was nice because usually, they never actually found anything they were both simultaneously interested in passionately. Danny would love to talk about Andrew’s writing seeing as he hid his secret love for it, that wasn’t happening anytime soon. So when they found that topic it was like the tension for finding topics to talk about was broken.

And eventually replaced with a new kind of tension. “Oh come on. Clockwork would not be a Ravenclaw! He’s such a Slytherin and you know it!” Danny argued when they had brought up the topic of houses and who in their joined social circles would be in. Currently they were arguing about their boss. They had agreed easily with most of them but evidently not this one.

“No way! Clockwork is definitely a Ravenclaw!”

Danny glared at Andrew and all of a sudden yelled. “Clockwork!”

It took a moment, but soon after the cranky voice of their boss growled. “What? What do you want?”

Danny crossed his arms and frowned, looking over at Clockwork. “Are you a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw. I say the former but Andrew here says the latter. Which one of us are right?”

Clockwork choked and stared at Andrew like he was an alien. “Are you serious? Ravenclaw? I am not a Ravenclaw. Daniel’s right. I’m a Slytherin through and through. Now for the love of god stop arguing and go home. You’re scaring what little customers I have. Besides, It’s just about closing time.”

The two were shocked that it had gotten so late but nodded. “Well now that it’s late, I demand you take me to dinner.” Danny all of a sudden said and Andrew’s eyes widened.

“Wait- What? Are you...asking me on a date or something?”

Danny considered it for a moment and quickly nodded his head. “Yes. Yes I think I am. Despite your terrible ability to be a sorting hat, I like you. And I would like to get to know you more than just your passion for Harry Potter.”

Andrew just nodded as they walked out of their work with their things and they both couldn’t help think that it was the start of something wonderful.


	12. Danny Phantom of the High School Play

Danny grinned as he looked at the list of cast members. "Woohoo! I got in!" He looked to Sam and Tucker with a grin, and they rose their eyebrows. "I got Christian!"

Sam rolled her hand as a motion for him to continue. "And that is…"

"He's the lead role! It's the guy version of Christine, and I got him!"

At his friend's excitement, Tucker grinned, giving him a highfive. "Nice job, dude! Doesn't that need tons of singing? Didn't know you could sing."

Danny crossed his arms, unable to stop from smiling. "Come on, man, you've known me how long?"

A voice from behind him had him tensing. "Danny." He turned around to see a tall teenager with a purple coat and shimmering green eyes to match. "So, you got the role of Christian."

Danny gave a small nod, "Y- yeah. I did. Didn't think I would."

Andrew gave him a dramatic bow, taking his hand and pressing a light kiss to the top of it. "I can hardly wait. I am rather glad to know who my Little Lottie is."

As he left, Danny gave a dopey grin, Sam waving a hand in front of his face. "Tucker, he's in sappy mode, again."

"I got it."

Feeling a pinch to his arm, Danny jumped, rubbing his arm. "Ow! Come on, do you have to do that, everytime?!"

Tucker shrugged. "Sorry, bro. You were in lovesick puppy mode, again. Why don't you just tell him you like him. I mean, don't you have to kiss him, anyway?"

He gripped his backpack, giving a half shrug. "I dunno, I mean, uh, maybe? You don't think Lancer would actually  _make_  us, do you? What if he does? What if he hates it? What if he never wants to be around me, again? What if he drops out of the musical because of it? What if-"

Hand over his mouth, Danny glared at Sam. "Danny, if you come up with anymore 'what if's,  _I'm_  not gonna wanna be around. Come on, Danny. Anyone with eyes can see he's head over heels for you. I mean, did you see what he did a minute ago?"

Pushing her hand away as they walked to class, he rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sam. Did you  _hear_  what he said? He was just getting in character. It was nothing."

Sam and Tucker rolled their eyes, speaking in unison. "Clueless."

Later, at lunch, Danny had his head resting in his hand as he listened to his friends arguing, once again. He glanced around the cafeteria, and saw Andrew with a tray of lunch walking over towards them. Danny quickly looked down at his food, stuffing his mouth to prevent himself from saying anything stupid. Andrew sat down at his left, giving him a dazzling grin. "Hello, you three." He turned completely towards Danny. "So, I was thinking, since we're going to be in the musical together, we should get to know each other better, yes?"

Danny smiled, swallowing his food. "Yeah, that… that sounds great. How about we work out the details later?"

"Sounds brilliant. Well, I must be off. People to see, and things like that. I'm sure you know the routine."

As Andrew rose from his seat, Danny gave a small laugh, brushing his hair behind his ear. "Yeah. Routine." He watched Andrew leave, and turned back to his friends, his smile fading and being replaced with confusion. "What?"

Sam pointed her fork at him. "Did you just get a date?"

Danny rolled his eyes as he took a bite of his food, "No, Sam. I didn't. It's like… rehearsal, but without the musical. It's probably just gonna be us hanging out in the library."

Sam groaned, hiding her face in her hands, and Tucker gave a dramatic sigh. "Give it up, Sam. He's hopeless. It's like he doesn't know  _anything_."

Setting his fork down, Danny shook his head.  _Honestly._

Next period, during drama, Danny grinned at Andrew as they sat next to each other. Getting a free moment while looking at the script, they went to a less crowded corner of the classroom. "So, I was thinking maybe the library?"

Andrew shook his head. "No, we'd have to be too quiet. Why don't you come over for dinner on Friday? My mother can make her lasagna."

Danny brought his arms in towards himself. "Really? I was thinking something… less social than that."

He shrugged, "Well, why not?"

Danny sighed, "Think of it. A secret arrangement, look, a place to hide! Just think of it."

Andrew bit back a smile as he responded. "Why is it secret? What have we to hide?"

"Please let's not fight."

"But aren't you free?"

"Wait till the time is right."

"When will that be? It's a family dinner! Not a crime." Even through the ridiculous singing, he could tell Andrew was pleading with him. "Danny, what are you afraid of?"

He hung his head. "Let's not argue."

"Let's not argue."

"The thing is-"

"It's just that-"

"I don't even know what time."

"I haven't told you the time."

They stared at each other until those around them clapped at the impromptu performance. Blushing, Danny gave a nod at them. Once the attention was again away from them, he muttered. "Dinner… dinner is fine,"

Andrew gave a shake of his head, popping the collar of his coat up. "No, no, if you don't want to, it's fine."

Staring at him, Danny started to crack up laughing. It was just so absurd that they were not only arguing about where to hang out, but they broke out into song over it. As Andrew started laughing along with him, his giggles slowly quieted. Date, huh? He leaned forward, giving Andrew's cheek an unexpected kiss. "Dinner sounds great."


	13. Teamwork

As everyone’s jaws dropped around them, Danny and Andrew gave a smirk to each other, looking back down at their newest assignment. The second they had seen their new assignment they just knew that they had this. Everyone else was absolutely screwed.

When the teacher dismissed them, Danny immediately stood up, grabbed his chair and plopped down next to Andrew. “So...how much do you wanna bet that by teaming up we’ve fucked over everyone else in this room?”

Andrew thought for a moment before answering cockily. "Oh...I have a feeling that everyone's laziness and inability to pay attention will catch up to them. Our project will be so good and detailed not even Lancer can deny us the best mark."

Danny leaned forward on the desk, propping his chin up with his hand. At this point he was close to Andrew. "So, what do you you have planned?"

Andrew quickly hid his blush from his friend, quickly swallowing down his red cheeks before looking back at Danny. "I have just the thing."

They spent the rest of the class creating a long, detailed, and well thought out plan. When the bell rang signifying the end of the class and the weekend, they stood up and started gathering their things.

"So...uhm Andrew..." Danny began before Andrew could leave. His speaking caught the other boy's attention.

"Yeah? What is it?" Andrew replied, clutching his books to his chest, cocking his head.

Danny fought his own blush and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I...was thinking that maybe w-we could...I dunno work on it over the weekend? I'm not picky about the where. I figure we could get a lot done and....stuff..."

Andrew coughed and blushed himself. "Yeah... That could work. I just...have to ask my mom. We could work on it tomorrow. I'm kinda busy tonight but I'm free all day tomorrow. We can just...exchange numbers. J-Just so we can get ahold of each other of course!"

Danny nodded and quickly wrote out his number on a piece of paper, handing Andrew it when he was done. “Here you go...So call me. Uhm...Bye!” Danny all but ran from the room. face red, leaving Andrew there alone. He stared at the number for a moment before leaving where he was standing.

***

Saturday afternoon found Andrew staring at Danny’s number for a long period of time. It took him at least a half an hour for him to swallow down his nervousness and finally pick up the phone. Slowly he entered the number into the phone and he waited anxiously before hearing the rings and a click, Danny’s voice suddenly speaking.

“Hello? Danny speaking.”

“Uh...H-Hi Danny, It’s me Andrew. I was just...wondering if you were still interested working together this weekend?”

“Yeah sure! I asked and you can come over to my house if you want? Whenever you want to come over works.”  
  
Andrew sighed in relief and smiled to himself. “A-Alright. Works for me! Just can you give me directions to your house?”

***

Andrew got lost twice on the way to Danny’s house. It wasn’t Danny’s fault, Andrew was just terrible with directions. For the life of him, he just had no idea how to follow them. Eventually of course, he found the right house and hesitantly walked up to the door. Once again, like with the phone, he felt completely anxious.

He stood outside of the house for several minutes trying to convince himself to finally knock on the door. But before he got to the point of having to convince himself, the door opened on it's own and there was Danny in the doorway. "Uh...hey? You gonna knock sometime soon? Maybe even come in?"

Andrew immediately flushed and grimaced. "Ah...sorry. I was going to, I just..."

Danny smiled genuinely and stopped him before he started producing word vomit to excuse himself. "Dude it's fine. Don't worry about it. Just...come in alright? It looks like it's gonna rain and I don't want you to get caught out here. Plus we do need to work on that project.

Andrew smiled at Danny's understanding and walked inside through the gap that Danny had made for him. "Th-thanks...your house is nice..."

Danny just shrugged. "Yeah, it's alright. It's a house so I can't really complain. You can just take off your shoes and then we can just go to my room. I'd really rather not be interrupted by my parents while we do it. Plus my laptop's up there and...well it's just overall easier.”

By the time they had gotten to his room, Danny had already taken Andrew's bag in an almost...chivalrous gesture and gently deposited it on his bed. Andrew awkwardly sat on the edge of it and started taking out the materials for the project and immediately, a sudden sense of ease came between them as they worked together.

Their strengths in different aspects of the project fit together perfectly and an illogical thought of how they would work together outside of school work came. Andrew didn't have time to dwell over it and quickly shook it away filing it away for another time.

After a couple hours of hard work they had gotten most of the main aspects done and Danny called for a much needed break. Danny moved all of their stuff to the floor and convinced Andrew to sit next to him against his headboard.  As Andrew learned, Danny's idea of a break was to watch stupid, but amusing videos on the internet. Andrew enjoyed the close proximity so he didn't complain.

Being this close to Danny made Andrew's heart pound and his stomach flutter and he couldn't think of anywhere else he would possibly be. The videos no longer interested him, even if they were interesting. He only wanted to look at Danny.

Andrew found a moment later that Danny had the exact same mindset. Before he even had time to think, Andrew leaned in towards the other boy and closed his eyes. A second later he felt lips pressed against his and he smiled at the thought that Danny wanted him back.

Danny threw the phone on the bed behind him, already long forgotten. "Finally." Danny laughed happily and pulled Andrew close, kissing him harder.

 

They kissed like that for a long time, only caring about the feel of each other and nothing else. They were so preoccupied that they never heard the sound of footsteps outside. Or the of the door opening. And almost missed the gasp.

“Hey sweetie! I just thought you and your friend might like-”

 

The sound of a crashing plate pulled them out of their little paradise and Andrew immediately turned red. “Mom! Uh….Uh....Hi?”

 

The face of Maddie Fenton was also red but luckily not from anger. “S-Sorry sweetie. I’ll leave you alone with your boyfriend. Sorry to interrupt!” And with that, she closed the door and was gone.

 

Danny himself covered his face with his hands and groaned. “I am so so so sorry. That was not how I planned for our first kiss to be...not saying it was bad though…”  
  
“R-really?” Andrew almost laughed… “I don’t think anyone plans for their mom to walk in on their son kissing a strange boy and...w-wait...you...planned for this? And...it was good?”

 

Danny turned around immediately cupped Andrew’s cheeks in his hands. He smiled and pressed his forehead to Andrew’s. “Of course I do. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been crushing on you? And how much you drive me crazy? I have it bad. Trust me, my friends won’t leave alone about it.”

  
Andrew blushed and rubbed his nose against Danny’s. “If it wasn’t already obvious...I have it bad for you too…” Danny smiled and they shared a sweet kiss.


	14. Breaking It Apart

Danny couldn't tell what it was about him. Was it the way he always held his books like they were going to fly away- or be ripped out of his hands- at any second? Was it how his hair always fell perfectly at the sides of his face, giving the messy, yet taken care of look? Or maybe it was the way his eyes shined as he explained something he was passionate about, to anyone who was willing to lend an ear.

He couldn't tell what, but there was  _something_  about Andrew Riter that made him want to grab him and… and he didn't know what. Punch him? Kiss him? Whatever it was, he didn't like it. It made him feel… ugh, he couldn't even put how he  _felt_  into words. Whatever he felt was what made him pick on the nerd everyday. Besides, that was the 'normal' thing that people like him did. They picked on nerds, and flirted with girls. Sure, he wasn't technically an athlete for the school, but everyone knew of Danny Fenton's amazing athletic skills.

And he definitely did nothing to hide them. Short sleeved shirts everyday, always playing on skins when playing shirts versus skins. He knew of the stares he always got. And the envious scowls. But what surprised him most was the utter  _loathing_  Andrew glared at him with. Like he hated every fiber of his being. Being the one to pound on him, he could kinda understand why he hated him. But still. It didn't mean it hurt, any less.

Finally, after class, Danny confronted Andrew. How was it that the kid was taller, and yet  _he_  was the one pounding him in? "Riter."

Andrew threw a glare at Danny. "Fenton. Did I do something to offend you, again?"

His hands balled into fists, and he forced himself to relax. An action that did not go unnoticed. "What's  _up_  with you?"

At this point, Andrew rose an eyebrow, turning completely towards Danny and crossing his arms. "Pardon?"

He gave a frustrated sigh. He threw his hands up in a wild gesture, watching Andrew flinch. "I don't know! There's something about you, and I can't tell what! I've been trying to figure it out for weeks! Why do I keep wanting to beat you up, or something?!"

Andrew gave a small nod. "Or something." Danny nodded frantically. Andrew put out his hand, and Danny paused at the raised hand. "I have a theory, if I may."

Danny waved his hands, not caring what the nerd would do, as long as he  _fix_ it. Just being close to him, Danny felt… sick. When Andrew grabbed Danny's chin, he was about to back up, before Andrew pulled him into a soft kiss. Danny went still, frozen, thoughts barely moving. What… He couldn't even tell what was happening, but he didn't feel… as bad.

When they parted, Danny stared up at Andrew, his face getting warm, and Andrew gave a satisfied nod. "Just as I thought." He ripped out some paper from his notebook, and scribbled something down. He pressed the paper into Danny's hand. "I can't quite be sure what's 'wrong,' with you, but with a few more… tests, I'm sure we can come to a conclusion. I'm sure I'll see you soon."

Before Danny could even get a word in, Andrew turned and left, as though the whole encounter hadn't even happened. Dash came up behind him, clapping him on the shoulder. "Hey, Danny, you look like you saw a ghost or something. What's up?"

Danny looked down to the paper in his hands, finding numbers written neatly, and in a straight line. "...I think I just got a date."


	15. Seven Minutes In Heaven

This was not how Andrew had wanted the night to go. Well okay in all honesty, Andrew hadn't wanted to go. But of course Danny, his best friend since like...well his whole life, had dragged him to this stupid party. Skulker, a massive bulky jock who, despite his looks, wasn't half bad was running it at his house (with the help of his girlfriend Ember of course). Nobody at the party was bad. Andrew just really really hated parties.

Andrew had spent most of the party hiding in the corner, nursing a soda. He would talk to someone if they came up to him and have a nice talk and Danny, the sweetheart, most of the time would sit with him and keep him company.

After a while people started to get bored and decided that what they needed to keep the party going was to play a game. That was all fine and dandy but... of course the game they chose was seven minutes in heaven. Of course.

"Aww come on Andrew! It'll be fun I promise!  And who knows...you might connect with someone and get a date!"

"Oh Danny...sweet, sweet Danny. My very best friend." Andrew sighed at his friends naïvity. "There is no way that out of this crowd I will find a date. Several are in relationships, others I'm not even remotely into and the rest, like you, have been my best friends for too long to think about that way. Let’s just pray I don't get picked. Or maybe I'll be able to opt out. That'd be nice.”

Danny nodded. "Yeeeeaaah okay. You have a point...but just try to enjoy yourself. I know I dragged you here and all but you're my friend and I don't want you to be miserable or anything...."

Andrew smiled and shook his head. He could never stay annoyed at Danny. Not that he was before but he knew that Danny only wanted to make sure that he wasn't locking himself in his room all weekend. And it wasn't like this group would harm him or anything. He knew everyone and they were all his friends. Danny would never put him in any danger. He was lucky to have him as his friend.

Andrew sat down in the circle forming of the party members. Danny decided to sit near him but not next to him, over by Sam and Tucker. He understood since Danny hadn't talked to them a lot of the night and Danny was important to them as well. He was their friend but not quite to the extent that Danny was to each of them.

Somebody had already brought over an empty bottle and had placed it in the middle of the circle. Soon everyone was seated on the floor and Andrew was already nervously pulling loose strands off of his clothes begging for him not to be chosen.

"Okay people. Since there are people in relationships here, and we want to include everyone." Ember started from her spot next to Skulker. "The only rule we have is that you have to go in the closet for seven minutes...but it is more fun if you do more than just sitting in there awkwardly." She winked.

One after one, couples were chosen and for seven minutes were in the closet doing...god knows what. He preferred not to think of the people in the room that way. He enjoyed their company and all but just...no. In the meantime between choosing couples, everyone talked about pretty much anything and continued their party until the buzzer sounded and they bugged the recent couple about what they did.

Eventually the next victim for the bottle to spin for was Danny and his friend sighed as he reached over and span the empty bottle. He wasn’t sure why he was watching the bottle so intently. Or why his stomach clenched at the thought of Danny making out with someone in the closet. He did know that he hated it though.

Andrew expected a lot of things. He expected it to land on Sam or Kitty or even technus but not him. Anyone but him. And of course, being the teenagers they were, everyone except Danny and Andrew ‘oohed’ and whistled and the two of them simultaneously rolled their eyes.

“Oh my god they’re like twin eye rollers.” Kitty hooted and the two of them ignored the laughs that followed as they walked into the closet. Once the door clicked closed Danny and Andrew stared awkwardly at each other, Danny rubbing the back of his neck.

“So....do you….just wanna make out and get it over with?” Danny suddenly asked and Andrew stared at his friend gaping. He thought for a moment and now that he thought about doing it with Danny explicitly, it didn’t seem like such a wild idea anymore.

Andrew eventually shrugged and then nodded. “Yeah..alright.”

And with that, Danny lunged forward and pressed their lips together. They gripped at any clothing they could reach and Danny pinned Andrew against the wall. They were acting like those stereotypically annoying and handsy teenagers that you see at nearly every party. But at that point, Andrew didn’t really care.

It didn’t take long before tongues were involved they were full on making out. It was nice but it got a little sloppy and they had to soften it. If they didn’t Andrew knew they would take it too far and he didn’t really fancy being caught doing...certain things in Skulker’s closet.

After a few minutes of the heavy make out session Danny pulled away and stared at Andrew wide-eyed and gaped. It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him and he was shocked. It confused Andrew to say the least but he waited for the other to speak when he was ready.

"So...I just kinda realized that I think I'm in love with you. I think I've been in love with you for years. How did I only realize this just now?"

Andrew’s face turned even more red if that was even possible. He had been expecting a lot of things for Danny to say. ‘Let’s pretend that never happened’ being one of them but...a declaration of love hadn’t even been on the list. But in the back of his mind, he knew he understood where Danny was coming from. It definitely explained the jealousy from earlier. “Oh...I just realized I am too...we are really dense aren’t we?”

Danny nodded but said nothing as he pulled Andrew in close. It was nice but-

It was quickly interrupted by the sound of a buzzer from outside the door and shouts for them to come out. “We should um...go out…” Andrew spoke and Danny let him go. Before he could open the handle though, Danny stopped him and shouted.

"Hey everyone! Just a little warning. And don't freak out, but me and Andrew are coming out of the closet okay?"

From outside, everyone groaned but also made sounds of surprise and confusion. Andrew slapped a hand to his face, but he smiled. "You dork..." He whispered and kissed Danny on the cheek.


	16. Don't Judge An Author By Their Book

Everyone who read books knew of the tension between Danny Fenton and Andrew Riter. One was one of the newer up and coming science fiction authors who was getting notoriety for his dystopian novels that were scarily realistic. The other was well known for the worlds he built in his fantasy worlds, and the way he could describe scenery. The one thing neither of them would touch, though, was romance. One of the reasons they were both so well known was the lack of anything romantic in their books. It made them a bit of an oddity.

It had started with each of them releasing their books on the same day without realizing it. Danny's first book, along with the first book of Andrew's new series had both been released in December, on the same day. Their attention was brought to it by their fans, asking if it had been planned. They both quickly denied such a thing. And somehow, it continued like that. Even when double checking and triple checking to make sure they were the only publishers on a day, they managed to publish the second and third books on the same days. So to say that the two were at odds was a little bit of an understatement.

Hence the reason Danny was controlling himself from throwing a temper tantrum. When he found out he had been asked to do a panel about Sci Fi versus Fiction at one of the big conventions, he readily agreed, wishing he hadn't at realizing Riter would be at the panel, too. But hey, it sounded like it was just going to be one huge debate. He had been itching for a reason to have it out with that cocky, know-it-all, magic fairy dust bastard.

"So, um, Mr. Fenton…"

He gave a grin to the fan, waving his hand. "Nah, none of that. That's my dad. I'm just Danny."

"Right. Danny. Where do you get the inspiration for your novels?"

As he smiled, he was interrupted by Andrew. "Yes,  _Danny,_  where do you get inspiration for such trashy robots?"

Danny glared over at him, before pleasantly answering the question. "Actually, my parents are scientists, so it's not hard for me to use that and turn it into something."

As the fan grinned and sat down, Andrew called on one. "Yeah, uh, this question's for you, Andrew… So, is there something about Stacy in  _Dirty Paws_  that's been kept from us? Cause I feel there's more to her than you've let on."

"Well, what I can say is that I never planned for her to be anything other than an average, human, flirty friend." Danny rolled his eyes. Typical.  _He_  didn't even know what he was doing with his own characters. He pointed to a guy who was holding both of their books.

The guy gave a smile as he stood up. "Yeah, so, uh… Kinda awkward question, but do you know about the shipping? Of you two?"

Danny blinked, sitting back in his chair. "The… the what?"

Andrew was having the same reaction. "Come again?"

"You know… Fenter?"

"It's Fenton."

Another fan stood up, on the other side of the room. "Shipping. You know, relation _ship_? A lot of people ship you two."

Danny looked over to Andrew with repulsion. "Ship?"

Andrew wore a similar look of disgust. "Us?"

"Never!"

"So you deny having any feelings for each other?"

Danny crossed his arms. "Besides hatred? Not one."

Andrew turned his nose up at him. "As if I could feel anything for a brat."

Danny chugged down his water bottle before setting it down on the table with a sigh. "Fans."

Andrew glared at him. "What do you know about having fans? This is just a phase in the book world."

"What's your problem with me?!"

"My problem is that you're a brat who thinks he's entitled enough to break out into the writing world while some of us have been slaving away for years and are only just now becoming more recognized! Trust me, I've read your writing. It's not worth it!"

"Yeah, well I- Wait… Wait, you read my books?"

"Well, it's not as if I have anything better to do… What… What is that grin?"

Danny didn't even realize he was smiling until the other brought it up. "Nothing, nothing, really. It's just… I can't believe you've read my work!"

Andrew rose an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. "Of course I did. I had to see what my competition was, didn't I?" He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you acting so… giddy?"

"Cause… Well, I mean… you were the author that made me want to write."

"I- I what?"

Danny grinned, nodding. "Yeah! I mean, your fantasy, it was great, and the world building! Even now, I've barely seen anything better than it! I still can't believe it!"

Andrew slowly nodded, confusion apparent on his face. "If you were such a fan of fantasy, why did you go into science fiction?"

"Cause I've always loved space. Are you kidding?! There's so much we don't know about it, so there's limitless possibilities as to what could and couldn't be out there! I could write them  _all_!"

"You…" Andrew was surprised at Danny's words. Here he thought that he was hated, but… "That's why you started writing?"

"Well, yeah. I thought you were super cool. Until I figured out you were a jerk…" Danny crossed his arms, looking down to the floor with disappointment. He shouldn't have really been surprised, but, everyone romanticised their idols. It wasn't like it was that big a deal. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked up.

Andrew was, for once, smiling down at him. "Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. What do you say during this break we have, we start over, and I buy you a coffee?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. That sounds great."

A year later, it was to many screaming fans that a new book was released, the author being Dandrew Fenter.


	17. The Ghost Of You It Keeps Me Awake

Ten days.

It had been ten days since the accident and the library was just as quiet as it had been the day before. Andrew knew that he should be patient. That Danny would form when he was ready...but he couldn't help but think that maybe even after all that the two of them had gone through, Danny wouldn't form after all. He tried to ignore the voice in the back of his head that said so but being alone didn't help block it out.

So instead of trying to pick himself up and wait for his lover to come back, Andrew just stopped everything. He quit writing, he quit reading, he even quit drinking coffee because it reminded him too much of Danny. He did his best to drag himself out of bed every morning but even that proved to be too difficult some days.

Andrew knew that his brother was growing concerned for him but with Danny gone...he couldn't handle the loneliness and the pain of Danny just being gone. How was he supposed to deal with it if his lover never returned to him.

Currently, the ghost was lying motionless on the couch, staring at the ceiling, wasting away his day with no productivity. He had, at least, gotten out of bed that day, but the couch was as far as he was able to go, before collapsing down onto it. Perhaps we was being over dramatic...he should know better than to think that Danny would every abandon him. Even if it was because he died.

Andrew was so preoccupied in his world of guilt, and sorrow that he didn't notice the figure that had suddenly formed close to him.

He was so zoned out that he didn't even register the fact that another ghost was sitting on the arm of the couch staring down at him.

He didn't even snap out of it when there was a hard, angry jab to his leg.

"Andrew! I swear to god I will make a bonfire out of your most prized books!"

That made Andrew snap out of his daze, and the man was suddenly in his 'protect books like they are his children' mode. "Don't you fucking dare you-"

His thought wasn't finished before he realized just who was the one threatening his books. Immediately tears started forming at the corners of his eyes and he scrambled to sit up. "D-Danny? Is that...really you?"

Danny, you looked similar to his ghost form but still quite different, nodded and gave Andrew a small sad smile.

At that moment, the dam broke and tears started streaming down Andrew's cheeks and he shot forward. He quickly clutched the other in an aggressive hug, pressing his face into his chest which muffled his cries. it wasn't long before Danny himself started crying as well.

They sat there sobbing together for a long time, before Andrew looked up and whispered. "I missed you...so, so much."

Danny nodded before kissing his lover on the forward and whispering back. "I missed you too."


	18. All Work And No Play

"And finally, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton would be very displeased if you are to interrupt them. Are there any questions?"

Danny looked over his shoulder at the man following him, who was raising an eyebrow at him. "Just one. Why is it you're the one I'm following? Are you old enough to have that level of authority?"

Turning towards him with a wicked smirk, Danny drawled. "No, I've only worked with them for my whole life, learning science since a very young age. Also, they're my mother and father. Any more questions?"

Restraining himself from fidgeting with his sleeves, Andrew glared down at the ground. "Not at the moment."

"Lovely. So, let's get to it, then, hm?" Leading Andrew to a table, Danny nodded. "Alright, impress me. You have this job for a reason, after all." Andrew gave a nod before he picked up a vial with a labeled chemical in it. He began pouring it into a beaker before picking up another vial and doing the same. Danny rolled his eyes. "No, no, no. You have to be more careful than that." Placing his hands over Andrew's he gently guided them. "If you do it that recklessly, then the whole thing could go." He took his hands away, giving an Andrew another nod.

Andrew stuck his tongue out, trying to hide his growing nervousness as he repeated the process more slowly. Didn't that brat know anything about personal space? Once he finished the mixture, he proudly produced a glowing green sludge. Danny took the beaker and inspected it before giving a dazzling smile, and a nod. "Perfect."

"You did say you needed a chemist, oui?" He could have laughed at the way Danny's nose wrinkled.

Danny looked back down at his papers. "You didn't mention in your application that you were French."

Andrew gave a harmless shrug. "I didn't think it needed mentioning."

Sighing, Danny shook his head, smiling. "Well, I suppose you're right. We did need a chemist. And you're perfect for the job. Though there  _is_  one tiny little problem."

Andrew rose his eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Oh, really? And what is that?"

Danny pulled down Andrew's goggles over his glasses, adjusting them until they were on him before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Proper lab safety. You should work on that." Without another word, he turned from the man, off towards some other project.

Andrew pressed a hand to his cheek in shock. That was… certainly unexpected. Though from what he could tell, Randall had been wrong about one thing. He had said that having a job at Fentonworks would be a bore. Now, though, it seemed things may be a little more fun, around here.


	19. I Was Blind, But Now I See

Andrew restlessly tapped the restaurant table restlessly and clenched his teeth together. His date was supposed to meet him here fifteen minutes ago and Andrew was starting to assume that his date was standing him up. Five more minutes and he would leave he decided.

Luckily the next minute, a black haired man came stumbling into the restaurant and Andrew crossed his arms and fixed him with a glare. "Uh...hi. You must be Andrew. I am soooo sorry, my car broke down and so I had to walk all the way here. I honest to god didn't mean to be late."

Andrew huffed, rolled his eyes and snatched his coat, starting to leave the restaurant. "Wait! I'm sorry! Please don't go."

Andrew turned around and crossed his arms once more. "I have been on a dozen dates like this where the other is late and has some lame excuse for me when they arrive. When I go on a date with another person it is not much to ask for to receive the human decency for the other to arrive on time-" Danny opened his mouth to argue before Andrew shot it down. "-or to pick up a damn phone and call me to say you'll be late, or reschedule. And if you didn't have my number, then you could have called our mutual friend who set this damned thing up and get it from them."

Danny's fight left him immediately and he sagged. "Please. Give me another chance. You're right. That was a shitty thing to do and I'm sorry."

Andrew stared at Danny for a moment before sighing and sitting down. "Fine.

Danny let out a relieved sigh and sat down as well. Taking a deep breath, he tried to start a civil conversation. "So...Andrew. What do you enjoy to do?"

Andrew clenched his teeth spoke through them. "Reading. And Writing."

Danny blinked at the continued aggressiveness and spoke awkwardly. "That's pretty cool. What do you write? And is there anything else you like to do?"

"Nothing interesting. And no. That's about it."

Danny tapped his fingers in annoyance but tried not to get angry at Andrew's snippy comments. "Alright...What do you for a living?"

Suddenly, it seemed as Andrew got even angrier at the question and his teeth grinding got even more aggressive. "None. Of your. Business."

Danny groaned and pulled at his hair. "Why are you being such an asshole? I'm just asking regular old awkward date questions! Are you still angry about the late thing? Because I thought we worked through that!"

"Did you seriously just call me an asshole?"

"Yes!" Danny whisper-shouted. "Because you are being a jackass and last time I checked, you're supposed to try and get the person you're on a romantic date to like you."

"Well last I checked you're supposed to show up on time."

"Oh my god. This again. You know, I'm starting to think Sam's wrath on not staying on this date would be worth it if I don't have to endure this shit!" Danny's voice rose slightly, but he tried not to make a scene. That would only make the whole ordeal worse.

"Wait...are you saying that the only reason you're here is because your friend will be angry?" Andrew gaped at Danny. His hands clenched angrily on the table, almost ripping the tablecloth off of it.

Danny gulped and grimaced. "Sort of...but that doesn't mean I don't want to be here. It just kinda...worked out that way."

Andrew shook his head, and for the second time that night, he stood up angrily. "That's it. I'm going home. I am so very glad we didn't order anything yet."

Danny rushed to stand up and try and stop him. "W-Wait! I can't drive you home...and it's really cold out there!" Though Danny didn't particularly enjoy the other man, he very well couldn't leave the other man to fend for himself.

Andrew glared at Danny. "Then I'll take a cab."

"B-but...I can't make you pay for a cab by yourself!"

"Then give me money for one then!"

Danny looked down and toed his shoe on the carpet. "I don't have any cash...and there isn't an ATM around here." He looked back up to the less than impressed Andrew. "B-but I'd be glad to walk you home...a-and lend you my coat for the weather!"

Andrew rolled his eyes and started walking, taking the coat from Danny's outstretched hand. "Fine."

While walking down the street the mood was tense and Danny clutched his arms to try and warm himself up from the cold. Unsurprisingly, he was starting to regret giving up his coat to the other. Danny didn't ask where Andrew lived so he decided that instead of starting a needless conversation, he would just walk the other home and make sure he was safe.

They had been walking for a while and were in a darker part, when a figure suddenly jumped out of an alley and pointed a knife at them. "Hands where I can see them!" The figure growled, and too surprised to do anything else, they complied with their wishes.

"Now give me all your money!"

"We don't have any." Danny's voice shook but he tried to calm himself. Andrew nodded jerkily in agreement.

The mugger advanced on Andrew, and Danny decided to do the only thing he could think of. He elbowed the mugger hard in the back of their head. They fell back onto the sidewalk and clutched the back of their head and Andrew quickly pulled out his phone, calling the police.

Half an hour later, the police had the mugger arrested and had left. After they had been interviewed by the police, Danny had sat down on a nearby step of a building and was looking almost..sad.

Andrew sighed as he sat down next to Danny on the step. "Listen...I'm so sorry for being such an asshole tonight. I swear I'm not that big of a pretentious dick usually. I just had an incredibly stressful day. I got fired earlier today...ironically, it was because I came late. Which makes me seem like even more of an asshole."

Danny's head shot up and he blinked at the other, surprised at the apology. "That's alright. And just for the record, I didn't mean to phrase that thing earlier. I just say stupid things when I'm nervous. I don't go on blind dates often. Okay that's not true. I never go on blind dates. I just didn't know what to expect."

Andrew slapped a hand to his face and groaned. "I must have given you quite the first impression then."

Danny shrugged and smiled slightly. "It wasn't quite so bad. That's the most action I've gotten in a while! I would ask you to redo tonight but-" He took a quick look at his watch. "-It's pretty late. Perhaps I could ask you on a redo date and we could try again."

Andrew smiled at the other. "Yeah sure." He stood up and held out his hand to the other. "Now what do you say about walking me home."

Danny stood up and grabbed the hand, smiling Andrew. "I would love that."


	20. Good Sportsmanship

"Good game, Randy. For a second, there, I was wondering if I should start to worry!" Danny punched Randy's shoulder as the game ended, giving him a grin.

Randy laughed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah, I bet, Fenton. We're gonna get ya next time, though."

"Danny!" From the stands, and quickly making his way onto the field, Danny's boyfriend, Andrew was waving at him with a wide smile. He rushed over to them, pulling them both into a hug. "I'm glad you two are alright!" Remembering himself, he coughed, letting go of Randy with a smile. "And that. You won, too, Danny."

Laughing, Randy scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, you earned it. Guess the season's over, then, huh?"

Danny sighed with a smile, "Guess so."

Randy took out a scrap of paper and a pen, writing on it before pressing it into Danny's hand. "Here. You're really cool. We should hang, sometime."

Danny chuckled, trying to stop himself from blushing. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Well, I should get going. My little siblings are probably getting upset cause I'm taking so long."

Andrew gave a nod. "Of course. So sorry to keep you from them. Please. Have a nice night."

As Randy saluted them, starting off the field, Andrew nudged Danny, nodding in Randy's direction. "Oh, right." He ran over towards Randy. "Hey, Randy! Hey, do you maybe, uh, wanna come over for dinner?"

Randy rose an eyebrow at him. "Wouldn't your boyfriend mind?"

Danny waved his hands, trying to wipe the smile from his face. "No, no, no! I meant, like, all three of us! He actually came up with the idea. It could be… fun."

Randy gave a pause, taking in Danny's messy hair, slight blush, and blue eyes, sparkling with excitement. He gave a smile and a nod, running his hand through Danny's hair. "Sure, petit mec. Dinner sounds great."

As the man left, Andrew caught up to Danny. "So?"

"...I think that we need to make an actual dinner, tomorrow."


	21. Creepy Crawlies

It had been a completely normal morning for Andrew. He had gotten up and dressed, went out to get his morning coffee and was now returning to his apartment.  
  
The only difference in these events this time, was that just as he was about to enter his key into the lock, a shrill scream was emitted from his neighbor's apartment. Said neighbor burst out of his apartment with...nothing on.

"Ugh. Oh god. Why. Why!" The man shrieked and Andrew, not knowing how to react just stood there. It took a moment but the man finally noticed him and shrieked once more. This time for another reason. "Oh god...I-I know that this looks really weird but there's a reason I swear!"

Andrew's eye twitched and tried to force his eyes to stay up at the other man's eyes. Quietly, he took off his purple coat and passed it to the other man who stared at it in shock. "Why...don't you tell me what this is about. And your name would be nice too."

His neighbour blushed and slowly slid the coat on. “Well....it’s dumb but I kinda...saw a spider. In my shower. And I really hate spiders. I was...debating whether or not to burn my apartment but… then I realized that other people live here too.”

Andrew nodded slightly. “I appreciate that you decided not to. Would you perhaps like some help with your problem? At least then I know you won’t change your mind and decide to resort to arson.”

The man rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh...yes please. Also it’s Danny by the way…” Not waiting for a reply, Danny wrapped the coat around his body tighter and opened the door back open and walked inside. Deciding that that was an invitation, Andrew followed him behind.

“So, where is this bathroom located.”

Danny pointed in a direction towards an open door and Andrew headed towards it. Danny however stayed far away from the room.

“So...where is it exactly?” Andrew shouted from inside looking around the tub.

“It should on the edge of the tub!”

Andrew looked where his said and his eyebrows furrowed when he found nothing. “Uhh...I don’t see anything?”

“What do you mean it’s gone? Where could it have gone? I only left for a couple minutes! Oh god now I really have to burn my apartment.”

“Please don’t do that. I actually like having a place to live.” Andrew lifted a few bottles on the edges of the tub and the curtain.

“I am not living with the possibility of there being a spider hanging around while I’m trying to shower. So you better find it or else this place is going down. In flames.”

Andrew rolled his eyes and searched a bit more before he found the spider crawling on the floor trying to run away. “Found it.”

There was an audible gasp of  “Oh thank god.” And Andrew grabbed a piece of toilet paper, squashing the insect. After throwing it in the garbage he walked out of the bathroom.

“Thaaaaank you. I appreciate this more than you know.”

Andrew shrugged. “It was nothing. Can I have my jacket back? It’s one of my favourite articles of clothing.”

Danny nodded and started to hand the jacket back, blushing at his state of undress, before changing his mind and tucking it back to his chest. “Uhm...actually, how about I wash it first? You know I mean...it must be dirty now…”

Andrew narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. He decided that it would be an excuse to see Danny again, and slowly nodded. “Alright...thank you. I’ll let you have that shower now.”

Andrew started to leave before Danny spoke once more. “Wait...is there anyway I can repay you?”

Andrew smirked and replied “Why don’t you take me for dinner sometime? Think it over and let me know when you give me back my coat. And yes, I mean a date.” And with a wink, he walked out of Danny’s apartment, door swishing behind him.


	22. Angels Fall, Chapter Thirteen

Randall gave a grin as he broke off pieces of chocolate into their cups, stirring it until it mostly melted, turning the beverage into hot chocolate. Using the whisk, Randall whipped the cream until it was at the perfect consistency. He crushed up small bits of cinnamon, putting a bit into each cup, topping each cup with the cream. "A lot of chocolate, a generous amount of whipped cream, a bit of cinnamon, and a dash of love...and you can't go wrong."

Daniel smiled gratefully as he took the cup, taking a small sip from it. "As always, it tastes  _wonderful._ " He set the cup back down, sitting back. "Although, I don't wanna have too much. That stuff puts me to sleep immediately."

"Maybe that, my sweet, is why I gave it to you. Hm?" Randall chuckled as he sat on the other side of Daniel, leaving the youngest as a barrier between Randall and Andrew.

Andrew shook his head, taking a sip of his own cup. "Centuries, and you two still don't change, do you?"

Daniel gave a small laugh as he laid out across the couch, resting his head in Andrew's lap and his legs in Randall's. His grin fell as he looked up at the two. "...Andrew? Randy? Are you guys alright? You seem...iffy." The question was a viable one, seeing as the two angels had been tense around each other all evening. But then, they could hardly be blamed. Well,  _Randall_  could hardly be blamed. Though he didn't know what was the matter with Andrew, he had an inkling or two.

Randall gave Daniel a small smile from where he sat. "It's alright. Nothing you need to worry about, little angel. Nothing that won't be solved, I'm sure." They were sitting on the couch in Randall's small house. The house, in the middle of the town he had been given to watch over, was a bit too cramped for three people. Andrew had his own, thankfully, and Daniel would hopefully be getting his own, soon. He was already two hundred and fifty years old. He should have  _had_  one, by now. Just another thing Randall could blame on himself. But it wasn't entirely bad. It just meant that Daniel came by rather often, either to his, or Andrew's, house.

"Kay." Randall watched as Daniel curled up in Andrew's lap, letting his eyes close. " _Terrible awful hot chocolate._ "

Andrew chuckled, running a hand through Daniel's hair and down his spine. "Perhaps next time, you should be a bit more clever, and avoid it, hm?" Daniel's only response was a purr that dropped off into almost inaudible range, indicating the angel had fallen asleep.

Randall shook his head with a laugh. "Our precious little angel, already asleep. Want me to put him to bed?"

Andrew scooped Daniel into his arms. "I think I know where it is, by now." Randall watched as Andrew took Daniel into the room, coming out a moment later without the younger angel. "I have a feeling he won't be waking up anytime soon."

"I may have snuck some extra chocolate and cinnamon into his cup." Andrew remained standing, to which Randall rolled his eyes. Honestly. Centuries at his side, and he was acting as though Randall  _didn't_  know when something was on his mind. Randall stood, tugging on Andrew's hands, and sitting him down on the couch, sitting beside him. "Andrew… Andy? We have to talk."

"I know. And stop calling me that!" Andrew crossed his arms with a huff. "You may not be a fan of your name, but I rather like mine, thank you."

"Of course you do, you pretentious jerk." Randall snickered at how offended Andrew seemed. Mind wandering back to the reason he wanted to talk, he sighed, letting his wings appear on his back, and spreading them as much as he could.

Andrew's jaw nearly dropped as he looked with wide eyes. Finally, he swallowed, looking back at Randall. "Oh, Randy… How… Why…"

"Because of you." Seeing Andrew's worry and disbelief, Randall shook his head frantically. "No, no, no. Not in a bad way. Trust me,  _never_  in a bad way." Pausing, he sighed, looking back at his wings. "It hasn't gotten much worse, but it started a couple days ago. I wasn't sure if I could tell you, but-"

Andrew cupped Randall's cheek, giving him a soft smile. "You know you can tell Daniel and I everything."

Randall shook his head again, looking down as he picked at his clothes, a nervous habit he always had. "And that's just it! It's not just you, it's him, too, but I  _can't_  tell him. It would break him, and I can't let anything happen to him, I can't-"

"Randy," Andrew said, trying to get him to calm down. "Just tell me what it is."

Randall sighed hopelessly, looking back up at Andrew. "I...I love you."

There was a moment of silence before Andrew was laughing with startlement, shaking his head. "Is that it? I love you, too, my dear, but-" He was cut off by Randall cupping both of his cheeks, giving him a serious look.

"No, no. I love you, but… You and Daniel? I'm  _in love with_  you."


	23. Ditching The Stalker

Danny had never been so scared in his life before. He had been walking home after a day of work at the small local cafe. On weekends, he worked the night shift and by the time it was over, the streets were completely deserted.

But tonight, Danny found himself being followed by the soft sound of footsteps. They were sure and confident and when he looked behind him his suspicions were confirmed. It was a man that came into the cafe often and stared at him the whole time unnervingly.

Danny carefully fished his flip phone from his pocket and cursed himself when it didn't turn on. He had forgotten to charge it this morning and it's battery could barely hold a charge in it's older age. Tucker would probably scold him and say that this is why he needs to upgrade to something newer.

Without a phone, being quite a distance from his house and not knowing what else to do, Danny almost ran for a nearby phone booth but didn't in fear of the man noticing. When he got in, he found the lock and latched it.

With shaking hands, he grabbed the phone, pressed in a quarter, and tried to dial Tucker's number. While it was ringing, he risked a glance backwards and his heart stopped. The man was waiting outside for him.

When the phone clicked as the other line accepted the call and a tired, groggy voice answered. "...Hello?"

Not bothering to completely take in the other person's voice Danny immediately started babbling. "T-Tucker I need your help man. I'm being f-followed by that creepy guy who always stares at me in the c-cafe. I don't know what to do a-and he's waiting for me outside and I'm scared man."

There was a sound of rustling on the other end like someone sitting up in their bed. "Look...I think you dialed the wrong number because I'm not and have never met a Tucker. But...I'm already awake and you sound like you're in some danger. Am I correct in the assumption that you live in Amity Park?"

Not affording to waste any time or think too much Danny replied quickly. "I-I'm so sorry for waking you. A-And yes you're right. I'm in the phone booth on the corner of th-third."

There was a short pause like the other person was thinking for a moment before there was an exhale of breath and more rustling. "Alright I don't live far from there so I'm going to come and meet you. I want you to stay right there. Keep the booth locked and don't put the phone down. I'll stay on the line with you so they don't think you're in there just to avoid them."

"O-Okay. Thank you so much." Danny let out a shaky breath and hugged his left arm around himself.

"Don't mention it." The other man huffed a laugh. " You can get me a coffee or something to make up for it. Now that I'm up I won't be going back to sleep for a while anyways."

"H-how far away do you live?" Danny chanced to ask.

"Only a couple blocks, it won't take me long at all. Especially if I rush."

"Alright just...hurry please." Danny was answered with a grunt of acknowledgement.

Just as the man said, it didn't take long at all and a figure approached the booth. "Okay I'm here."

Danny hung up the phone and practically flung out of the phone booth towards the man. He was wearing a purple coat and a long scarf and...very handsome. He shot a glare towards the stalker before giving Danny a reassuring look. "Here..you must be cold." He murmured and removed his coat and placed it on Danny's shoulders and leant down to whisper in his ear. "Names Andrew."

"D-Danny..." He stuttered and Andrew nodded. They immediately started walking away but they didn't get far before the stalker came rushing towards them and Andrew wrapped an arm around Danny's waist.

"Danny..." The man said. "Is...this your boyfriend?"

Andrew glared and tightened his grip slightly. "That's right. He doesn't want you."

"But..." The stalker looked almost crushed. "I thought we had something.." Danny started shaking in fear. The man was a grade A weirdo.

Andrew gave an even angrier glare, and after a moment, he leaned down and pressed his lips softly to Danny's. They stayed like that for several moments before Andrew moved away and gave the stalker a look that just dared him to come and try. The stalker got the memo and rushed away grumbling angrily.

Danny however was frozen in place completely shocked. He was just kissed by a stranger that had just possibly saved his life. Seeing that he was frozen, Andrew grimaced and stepped back a bit. "I'm...sorry If I crossed a boundary. I just thought that, that was the best way to get him to go away."

Danny quickly snapped out of it, smiled and shook his head. "No...it's fine. But next time you should at least take me out on a date first..." A light blush covered both their cheeks.

"Well..." Andrew started. "You do owe me that coffee..."

Danny smiled softly and elbowed Andrew softly in the side. "Then lets go find someplace open."


	24. Trapped In A Library

Danny was giving Andrew a wide grin, looking like he had stars in his eyes. "So you're telling me. That you actually  _live_  in a library? Like, overnight, and stuff?"

Andrew rose an amused eyebrow as he shelved the new books he had gotten in the human world. "Yes, I suppose that's what I'm saying. And why does that prospect seem to excite you so much?"

Tugging on Andrew's sleeve, Danny was practically bouncing as he looked around Vidya, who was humming in his head, responding well to his giddiness. "Dude! Do you know how often I dreamed about being able to live in a library? Like, as a legit thing?! And you actually get to do it! You would make so many tiny kids happy. I'm pretty sure that's, like, a kid thing. You either dream about living in a library, or a mall. Or a school."

"If you're nice, I'm sure she'll allow you to spend the night." As if. They were tutor and student. And he was more than certain Vidya didn't want a teenager, of all people, spending a night- An affirmative humming, and he was being tackled to the ground by a squealing halfa.

" _Thank you thank you thank you I love you thank you!_ " Andrew paused, staring down at Danny, then back up at the ceiling.

"Did he just…" Another affirmative hum. "Huh. Phantom, you're certainly unexpected."

" _Can we do it tonight?_ "

Andrew rolled his eyes at him with a shake of his head. "You're not really prepared for a sleepover night, are you?"

"I can run home real quick and grab up some things! It'll be really quick!" And the way he looked up at Andrew so hopefully, how could he say no? At the defeated sigh the older gave, Danny grinned widely, squeezing him tightly before flying off towards the entrance. "I'll be back in, like, ten minutes!"

Another sigh, and Andrew was glaring up at Vidya. "Not one word. Yes, yes, I know I- You know, you're really not helping matters, here. I'm supposed to just be his tutor. Nothing more. Besides, he's almost  _sixteen._  Don't you think he's a little young for me?"

Before he knew it, Danny was floating in front of him with a backpack. "I hope you know, I'm expecting Ghostwriter hot chocolate. Ghostwriter hot chocolate is necessary."

"It's Riter hot chocolate."

Danny wrinkled his nose, shrugging. "Okay. I mean, there's not much of a difference, but okay." Setting his backpack down on the couch, he looked up at Andrew with a grin. "So, GW. What are we going to do first?"

"Andrew. And  _you're_  going to finish that conclusion for your science class."

Groaning, Danny flopped to lay across the couch. "But I don't wanna!" As Andrew was halfway to the kitchen, Danny sat up with wide eyes. "Wait, did you just tell me your name?!" Andrew smirked. No one said he couldn't have a  _little_  fun.


	25. What Is Life?

Danny wasn't sure what was wrong with him that day. Nothing particularly bad had happened lately. In fact, things we're pretty normal, if not better. The ghost fights were as usual as they could be, he was doing much better in school, and he'd been hanging out with his friends a lot.

But for some reason, that day he had woken up and just felt...off. And not really feeling up to talk to his friends or family about the feeling, he had decided to get up and go to the park for some quiet contemplation.

He had been there for over an hour and still didn't feel better when a man with a large coat, which was totally inappropriate for the weather, came to sit next to him on the bench. Immediately the man began to read, and Danny, completely bored of his unsuccessful contemplation, tried to think of a way to strike up a conversation.

Luckily, the other man beat him to it. "You know. If you would like to say something or just strike up a conversation in general, I don't mind. I came here to read and get some peace and quiet from regular day to day life, but I wouldn't mind a conversation."

Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh...uh. Sorry. I'm not even sure why I'm here exactly. I came here because I woke up sort of...off and I wasn't sure where else to go. There wasn't much else to do. I guess I was just trying to contemplate life...or something."

The other man hummed in understanding, nodding his head. He placed a bookmark in the book and set it on his lap, laying back against the bench. "I understand what you mean about feeling off. Sometimes there's no real reason. You know, I sort of woke up like that today myself. I suppose that's one of the reasons I'm here myself. It's nice to have a change of scenery every once in a while."

Danny nodded and looked around for a bit before speaking again. "I know this will probably sound really cliche but...what is the meaning of life?"

The other shrugged a bit. "I'm not quite sure. I suppose it means something different to everyone. And I guess you don't really find out until you die. It's a broad thing, filled with too many possibilities and choices to count."

Danny nodded and crossed his arms. "That makes sense...I guess when you have weird days you have to just...push through them. And hope that things are better tomorrow."

The man smiled. "I suppose you aren't as hopeless as I thought."

Danny choked before sputtering. "Wha- hey! You don't even know me! You don't even know my name!"

Andrew raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Your name’s Danny isn't it?" Before, Danny could even voice the question he was planning to, the other man answered it, shrugging. "I've seen you around school. We don't share any classes but I've seen you."

"Oh." Danny said simply. "Well now you're at an advantage. You know mine, but I don't know yours."

"It's Andrew Riter. You probably haven't seen me around because I spend most of my time in the library. But you know...you come in every once in a while. I guess you're just as oblivious as I thought."

Danny huffed in light embarrassment and nudged Andrew on the shoulder. "Alright fine. I'm a little oblivious. So what?"

Andrew smiled and shook his head. "Oh I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Just an observation. Well...as much as I've enjoyed our chat, I really must be going. My break’s almost over." He began to stand up. "But don't be afraid to say hi next time you see me. It's nice to talk to someone every once in a while."

"Yeah sure. I'll do that." Danny smiled and waved as Andrew walked away, and when the other was out of sight, he found his off feeling had disappeared.


	26. Deja Vu

Everyone knew that Daniel and David Fenton were a pair of troublemakers. The two twins had been inseparable since they were born, which their friends could attest to. While sharing everything could sometimes get on their nerves they worked flawlessly together, especially when it came to pranks and defending others.

"Well well, if it isn't the Fentons Squared," Dash sneered, Danny and Davey both blinking as they looked back in unison. Considering both of them had been up all night as their ghostly alter-egos they were tired and not very eager to deal with an annoying bully.

"I'm just surprised he knows what  _squared_  means," Danny commented, looking to his twin who only gave him the same grin. Wincing as he was grabbed by his collar he saw Davey's hands faintly glow with gathering ghostly energy, Danny showing him a warning look to let it go. While the two were similar in many ways Davey was more of the hero, Danny was the type to shyly stay in the background.

"Listen here  _Danny_ -"

"I'm Danny," Davey raised his hand, Dash frowning and looking over at him. "Duh, can't you even tell that?"

"Yeah, it's obvious I'm Davey," Danny scoffed, sounding annoyed. Behind Dash his two friends shared a look, both of them confused. They wouldn't be able to tell if they were lying, considering that they both dressed in similar outfits everyday, and had the same hairstyle. "Honestly, and you call yourselves our tormentor."

"Is there a problem here?" All of the boys looked over to see Mr. Lancer frowning, Danny wincing as he was dropped to his feet. Davey helped him get his balance, sending a green-eyed glare towards Dash that had his twin elbowing him in the side. Before Lancer could open his mouth again the bell rang, everyone scattering to the winds.

"I wish you wouldn't let him provoke you like that," Danny muttered, rubbing his shoulder while Davey only frowned and crossed his arms. "It's just Dash, he's not even a threat anymore."

"I know, I know. It just...it irritates me to see him hurt you." In a flash Davey grunted as Danny tackled him into a hug, rubbing their cheeks together.

"Aw, you're so cute and protective~" Hearing a cough they blinked, looking up to see Tucker snickering and Sam shaking her head.

"You two worry me." Danny and Davey only grinned, holding hands as they smiled pleasantly up at the other, voice coming out at the same time.

"Hi Sammy, having a good day?" Tucker shuddered, Danny snickering as Davey outright laughed.

"Seriously, that's creepy as hell," Tucker complained, the four walking to class together with the twins still holding hands. "Did you finally finish reading those codependency books Jazz made you read?" At the mention of the books the two snickered.

"Well, we did go to a library-"

"-but we were rather distracted by the librarian."

"It was hardly our fault, honestly! It's just-"

"-he's  _delicious_."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, brother." The twins shared an evil look, Tucker feeling sorry for whatever poor bastard had the twin's affection. When the rumors said that the twins did  _everything_ together they weren't lying. When it came to crushes and dates the twins had the same taste and the same plans of tag-team.

Really Tucker couldn't feel more sorry for whoever it was.

::

"If you honestly think you'll manage to sneak up on me you're mistaken." Both twins whined as they faded back into visibility, pouting up at the Ghostwriter, who only spared them a small smile. "You two are very determined, aren't you?"

"Very," they spoke in unison, Andrew not even looking phased as he began shelving books again, Danny and Davey each taking a stack and helping him out. "So, hey, here's a random question from nowhere, you know, since you're so knowledgeable and all..."

"What's the ghost stance on polygamy?" Seeing the ghost give them a raised eyebrow Davey smiled, Danny chuckling nervously and clutching one of the books closely. "School project."

"On ghost relationships?" Andrew asked, Davey opening his mouth to explain only to look to Danny, who was far better with convincing stories. Danny only shook his head, looking defensive.

"Hey, no, this was your plan! I wanted to do this in a subtle manner but  _no_ , you had to be flamboyant!" Andrew shook his head as he watched the two get in a scuffle, rolling around on the floor and pulling at each other's hair. He cared for the two boys, really, he did, it was just that he was still unsure if he could actually handle  _two of these horrors_.

Retreating to the kitchen he didn't even get ten feet before he had Danny shyly holding his hand and Davey wrapped around his shoulders, both scuffed up from their short fight. "You never answered our question!"

"You two will be the end of me," Andrew sighed after a few seconds of silence, shoulders slumped as the two twins shared an incredulous look. They took a step back, holding hands again and rapidly talking.

"Do you think-"

"It sounded like it-"

"Nothing is that easy-"

"Maybe he took pity-"

" _Still_ -" Having enough of the back and forth talking Andrew kissed them both, shutting them up immediately as they blushed the same shade of bright green.

"Does that answer your questions?" At the dual nod he smiled pleasantly, walking back towards the kitchen. "Excellent, now let's make coffee. I'll need it to deal with you two." Danny and Davey shared a gleeful grin, each taking one of the writer's hands and chatting a million miles an hour, slipping in and out of their own twin speak, Andrew understanding every word.

They half-wondered how much Jazz would psycho-analyze them when they got home.


	27. All Bets Are Off

Anyone who went to Casper High, knew that Danny and Andrew had been friends for just about as long as they'd been alive. Everyone also knew, whether they liked it or not, that they were disgustingly in love with each other.

Now most would ignore that because in high school, romances were a given and usually never lasted long. But with them, it was something that frustrated everyone with the fact that they were both completely oblivious to the whole thing. It became a running joke in Casper High about how they just couldn't see it and many people bet on when they would finally get together (or not at all).

Nearly everyday, people watched it like it was daytime television. It was so bad that even their two closest friends Tucker and Sam participated in the betting. They wanted to interfere, but before they could even try, they received several threats from the whole football team and decided that it wasn’t worth it.

Things were looking like they would continue like that until graduation until one day, Danny had discovered the bets. He hadn’t actually meant to eavesdrop in the locker room for once, but he had forgotten to grab his bag on the way out trying to avoid the jocks. He thought that if he could just creep in there and grab the bag quickly, he could just make it out.

But while grabbing it, he couldn’t help but hear their conversation.

“I dunno guys, Fenturd still doesn’t seem to have an idea.” The voice of Dash drawled. “I still say it’s gonna happen outside of school. They’re no way they’ll get it by the time of graduation. It’s only a month away.”

“Oh but come on Dash!” Kwan replied. “Prom hasn’t come yet. I bet you something will happen then! After all, Prom is when people get the guts to actually ask their crushes out!”

Danny, too shocked to be able to process, and too worried about being caught decided to hightail it out of there before, someone noticed his eavesdropping. Besides, he had someone to tell his newfound news to.

Finding Andrew was as simple as Danny expected. During certain hours, if he wasn’t at home or in class, the only other place to find him was in the library. It was only to be expected, after all his best friend was the biggest nerd the school had to offer.

When Danny reached the library he found his friend sitting in his his favourite nook, face obscured by this week’s “light reading” as he liked to refer to it as. Though it seemed like Andrew wouldn’t notice that Danny sat down next to him, like he hadn’t noticed the ball of paper that had been thrown at him, the sight of Danny always seemed to tear him out of his trance.

“So, you’ll never guess what I overheard while in the changing rooms after gym.” Danny whispered when he’d gotten his friend’s attention. When Andrew raised his eyebrow as to question Danny, he continued. “Apparently the jocks have some kind of bet about us getting together.”

An unidentifiable look quickly passed Andrew’s face until his face changed into an interested glance and Danny quickly continued “I mean, isn’t that super weird? They hate us after all, why would they care about that at all. Especially about how we're just friends and all!”

Andrew simply shrugged, now looking more interested in the cover of his book than anything else. Which was strange, after all, Andrew always gave Danny lots of attention when he was talking to him. “Jocks find themselves amused by questionable things.”

Danny slumped in his chair and crossed his arms. “That’s just it Andy, the way they talked it almost seemed as if this was a big thing to them! That it was bigger than just the jock group. Than just the popular kids!”  
  
Andrew sighed and rolled his eyes. “Danny, first of all, you’ve known me your whole life and I have told you most of that time, to not call me Andy.” Danny just smirked. “ And second of all, where are you exactly going with this conversation? Is there something you expect me to take from it? Something you wish me to do about it? Because in my opinion, I don’t find it to be that big of a deal.”

“Ah but Andrew that’s where you’re wrong!” The eyebrow shot higher. “Thing about this! Our entire school career people, other than Sam and Tucker, have pushed us around! Do you realize that knowing this, will give us a way to get back at them? I mean think about it. If this thing centers around money, we can totally pretend to go out, and screw certain people over with their bets!”

Andrew groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Daniel what exactly do you think this will accomplish? I mean, in one month, we will probably never see these people again and it won’t matter. What will pretending to date accomplish other than petty revenge.”

“Weeeeell for one if we choose to go to prom together we’ll actually have dates!”

Andrew looked as if he was about to argue but it was obvious that he thought against it. Whenever Danny set his mind to something, there was nothing that was going to sway him off of it. Not even pure logic. Finally he growled and said “Fine! Alright. I still think this is ridiculous but since it doesn’t seem to cause too much harm, fine.  I mean it’s not like it changes much we were planning on going together anyways….”

***********

When news went through the school that Danny and Andrew we’re going to prom together it was almost as if an explosion was sent through the entirety of Casper high. Many screeches of victory and misery were made by individuals and a confused Mr. Lancer tried, and failed, to calm things down.

By the time the actual prom rolled around, things had sufficiently calmed down and when Danny finally told his parents about who his date was, they had their own victory/loss party much to Danny’s shock.

The night of the actual event, the two of them decided that Andrew would come around to pick him up. Sam and Tucker, however decided to have a pit stop at Danny’s house before they made their way to it together. Unfortunately, Danny made the mistake of not actually letting them know that it was just a ruse to get back at people.

“Danny!” Sam shrieked. “How could you not tell us?”

“Well...I dunno! I thought you guys would have just figured it out! I mean c’mon guys! Me and Andrew? Dating? Like that is so obviously a joke!”

His two friends shared a look before Tucker slowly responded. “Danny man...c’mon. You can’t be that dense.”  
  
Danny furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What...what do you mean?”

Sam sighed. “Wow I guess he is...look Danny. What we mean is...how long are you going to keep denying it? You two have been friends your whole lives! I mean, we’re your guys’ good friends but we haven’t known you guys that long. I mean...you guys have a connection and it’s so…well….obvious that you’re in love with each other! The whole school knows it! We know it! Hell, your parents know it and they’re as dense as it comes.”

Danny hugged himself and frowned. “I don’t...know what you’re-”

Sam interrupted him. “Yes you do. You just don’t want to see it because it scares you. But you need to stop running away from stuff that does. You’ve done that too much in your life, and Andrew is too important to you to let slip away because you were too afraid. Look...sorry to drop this on you and then leave but we gotta get going.”

“Yeah…” Tucker cut in as they made their way to the door. “Sorry man.”

Danny stayed there thinking and hugging himself until he heard the doorbell ring. He forced a happy expression on his face when he opened the door and found Andrew there to greet him.

After Andrew greeted him they started walking to the school. Danny managed to keep up his unaffected facade right up until they reached the doors. Danny abruptly stopped walking and touched Andrew’s arm. “Wait.”

Andrew immediately turned around and tilted his head in confusion. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to go in? I mean we don’t have to but it was your idea.”

“It’s...not that.” Danny sighed. “It’s just...Sam and Tucker said something to me tonight that really made me think.” When Andrew made a questioning hum, Danny crossed his arms and looked at the ground. “It’s just...they said that...that I was in love with you. That you were in love with me. That...everyone could see it.”

When Andrew didn’t answer, he continued. “And...then I started thinking…that maybe they’re right....about me I mean. And not just maybe....that they are right. I mean, it makes sense. Why I felt jealous all those times you had a crush on someone else. Why I found myself comparing anyone I liked, or dated to you. I could never explain it before, but....now it makes sense. But...if you don’t feel the same I understand completely.”

Danny received no response at first, and could feel his heart break. Until he felt a finger lift his chin up and saw Andrew’s eyes stare into his. “Do you really mean that Daniel?”

Danny blinked but he wasted no time in responding. “Yes. Of course.” And with that, Andrew leaned in and pressed his lips to Danny’s. Danny was too surprised to kiss back, and before he could think to do so, Andrew was pulling away. “I love you too Daniel. Now let’s go in there and have a good time.”

Andrew grabbed his hand and dragged him inside to the party and Danny followed with no protest.


	28. Birds Of A Feather

"okay i get it you're a great thief and don't want to go to jail but i'm the exhausted af detective that's assigned to catch you i stg if you let me bring you in so  _i can sleep_  i'll get you a good deal" au

::

Daniel Fenton yawned, rubbing at his eyes. Two months. He had been after this damned thief for two months. He'd finally tracked him - them - down to a small apartment smack in the middle of downtown. No one would have thought to look there. And they were so cliche, too! Stealing from banks and art galleries. As far as he knew, none of the items that they had stolen had been sold. Now it was just a matter of bringing them in and finding everything they stole. Then maybe he could actually get a good night's sleep. If he even knew what that was, anymore.

Climbing up the stairs, he nearly stumbled backwards a couple times. Of course they lived on the third floor. It couldn't just be the first floor, no. They had to make him climb all these steps. Looking back down at the scrap of a note he had written it on, Danny looked to the apartment number blankly. He rose his hand, knocking on the door, the last knock just sort of...falling. A moment later, the door opened, and a man with black hair and shining green eyes was tilting his head. "Can I...help you?"

Danny only stared for a moment before nodding and taking his badge out of his pocket, showing it to the man. "You're under arrest."

The man blinked, opening his mouth, and closing it again before opening the door wider, still looking at Danny curiously. "Maybe you should...come inside for a moment? Have a cup of coffee?"

Staring for a moment, Danny gave a slow nod, stepping inside. "You're under arrest."

Nodding, the man ushered Danny towards the couch while he went off towards the kitchen. "Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. Still, you look like you could use a cup of coffee. Or maybe a week's worth of sleep."

"Hey, Andy, why's the who the hell is this." A man stood in the doorway with grocery bags hanging from his arms. He slowly walked to the kitchen, still staring at Danny, and sounding offended. "Are you _cheating_  on me?"

"You're under arrest."

"He needed coffee."

The second turned to the first - Andy - staring at him. "He's a cop."

"I've realized this."

"There's a cop in our place."

"Yes there is."

"Again."

At that, Danny looked to them, tilting his head. "Again?"

"College was a rather interesting time."

Slowly nodding, Danny looked down at the couch he was sitting on, and blinked. "When did I get here?"

"A few moments ago." Carrying a cup, Andy came out of the kitchen with a hum, handing it to Danny. "Apologies, I don't believe we've properly introduced ourselves. I'm Andrew, and _that one_  is Randy."

Randy scoffed, a hand to his chest. "'That one?' What is _that_  supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing, dear, nothing." Andrew paused for a moment, tilting his head at Danny. "So, then. How long have you been coming after us?"

"...Danny."

"Right. So, _Danny,_  how long have you been on our case?"

Danny took a sip from the cup, narrowing his eyes at it and giving a small huff. "Two months." Two terrible, grueling months, but it was worth it, for this moment.

Randy whistled from the kitchen, looking impressed. "Most of them gave up after a month. Pretty determined, yeah? Hell, I probably barely knew I was being followed, half the time."

"...What?"

Andrew nodded as he sat in the armchair across from him. "I have to agree. You're fairly sneaky for a detective." His voice took on a teasing tone. "Are you sure /you/ aren't a thief?"

Taking another sip, Danny glared over at him. "This is hot chocolate."

"Indeed it is."

"You lied."

"I may have."

"You're under arrest."

"Why _aren't_  you a thief?"

"...Cause that's stealing."

Randy snorted as he flopped down onto the other side of the couch. "It's either that, or living in debt. Personally, I'd rather not have to worry about _anything_  college related."

"...Why do you steal?"

"Because then we can actually eat and live? Why do you work?"

"...I dunno." Rolling his eyes, Andrew took the cup from Danny's hands and set it on the coffee table, grabbing the blanket from off the couch and throwing it over Danny. Danny blinked up at him. "...But you're under arrest."

"Yes, yes, you can arrest us in the morning. First, though, you need sleep. You look like the walking dead." Andrew took Randy's hand, dragging the man back into the kitchen. "You, come with me. We have things to discuss."

"What did I do, this time?"

Danny watched as the two went into the kitchen, speaking to each other in hushed tones. If he really wanted, he could listen in, but... It was so warm and comfy... He looked down at the blanket, tilting his head. Weren't all criminals supposed to be terrible evil monsters? Another glance to the kitchen, and his head was slowly falling to lay on the arm rest. Maybe just...five minutes. Just to rest his eyes.


	29. Tale As Old As Time

Beauty and the Beast!AU

"He ruined one of my books!"

"Andy, come on, that doesn't mean we can just _keep_  him here! Isn't he that halfa?! He's got a life, and stuff!"

"He can get back to it, later! He needs to learn to actually have respect for other people's property!" The two ghosts in the hall weren't being very quiet about their argument. And the constant humming that Danny heard wasn't helping, either. It was just one stupid little book. It didn't mean he needed solitary confinement, or anything.

A small knock on the door, and he heard one of them, not the one who had trapped him, talking to him through the door. "Heeey. Is it alright if I come in? It's just me." Turning his back to the door, Danny remained stubbornly silent. Hearing a click, he winced. Right. They lived here. Probably had keys. "Alright, then. I'll just...ah...come back later."

Blinking, Danny turned back to stare at the door. It was still shut tightly, nothing changed there. "Why didn't he..." A satisfied humming - which he realized to be in his _head_  - and he was sighing. "Great. Humming in my head. I'm going nuts." The humming suddenly stopped, as though shocked into silence. "O...kay, then."

In the kitchen, Andrew rolled his eyes as he made himself a cup of coffee. Honestly, sometimes Randy was just _too_  trusting. A humming in his head, and a small image, and Andrew was nearly dropping his cup. "What?! That's impossible! Only Randy and I- What do you mean he can hear you?!"

Randy walked into the kitchen, raising an eyebrow as he got himself a cup of tea. "What is it you're yelling about, now?"

Andrew sighed, sitting at one of the chairs at the counter. "Vidya says that he can hear her."

His eyes widened, and he looked vaguely amused. "No shit? Guess that explains why she locked his door, then." A glare was shot his way. "Hey, don't get on me! I was just trying to make sure he didn't, like, die, or something. Speaking of," he said as he set about making a cup of hot chocolate.

Narrowing his eyes at Randy, Andrew huffed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Tryin' ta help him, and make sure he doesn't die." Nodding, he set the cup on a plate, and went back to the 'guest' room. He knocked again, less nervous. "Hey, I've got somethin' for ya, if ya want it." A pause, and more stubborn silence. "Alright. I'll leave it out here, then."

Danny listened to the footsteps leaving, and heard the click from the door, again. Almost curiously, he slid off the bed, walking over towards it. He gave the doorknob a testing wiggle, and tilted his head as it opened a crack. That was...unexpected. He peeked his head out the door, looking around. No sign of the ghosts. Maybe he could make a break for it... He looked down, seeing a small cup with... _something_  in it. Hearing an encouraging hum, he bent down and picked it up, giving it a cautious sniff.

He blinked down at it, looking around again. Was this... Maybe it was poison. Slowly backing into the room again, he gave a hum of his own, examining the cup this way and that. Bringing it up to his lips, he gave a hesitant sip. Well, it didn't _taste_  like poison. In fact, it tasted like...hot chocolate. Glancing around the room, he wrinkled his nose. Maybe _one_  more sip wouldn't hurt.

::

Ten minutes later, and Randy was poking his head down the hall, grinning widely at seeing the cup was gone. He skipped back into the main room, where Andrew rose an eyebrow at him. "And just what are you so pleased about?"

"He took it."

Rolling his eyes, the younger scoffed. "Just because he took it doesn't mean he drank it."

"He drank it."

"How do you know?"

"Cause it was _my_  hot chocolate."

Andrew sighed, shaking his head. "Randy, you're not supposed to be spoiling him." He turned back to his book with a huff. "He's _supposed_  to be learning a lesson."

"And what lesson is that, exactly?" Randy flopped down onto the couch, narrowing his eyes at Andrew. "To be just like you? To hole himself away so that no one can try to get close to him?"

"Randy, that's not fair-"

Randy cut him off, looking at him in disbelief. "It's not fair that he's just a kid and he made a mistake, so you decided to punish him for it!" He paused, shaking his head, near pleading to Andrew. "Come on, Andy. You're smarter than this. What's your _real_  reason for this?"

Setting his book back down, Andrew gave another shake of his head. "I don't know. Maybe I just want him to...feel regret? I didn't- He didn't even /apologize!/ He didn't feel one ounce of regret for making me lose something! Maybe now _he'll_  lose something, and see how it feels."

Randy sighed, rolling over on the couch with a hum. "You're as vindictive as you were when you were little."

He blinked, looking up at him. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not really."

A glance at the clock, and Andrew was standing with a sigh. "I suppose I should make dinner, then. I'm guessing you'll be taking it to him?"

"Why me?!"

"Because he seems to actually _trust_  you," he called from the kitchen.

"...Yeah, fair enough."


	30. Perfectly Perfect

Danny entered their bedroom - technically Andrew's, but with how often he spent the night it may as well be their's - somewhat skittishly. He didn't want to interrupt Andrew's reading because Andrew was always a bit...touchy, about his books. But he was starting to get tired, and he wanted Andrew cuddles. He gave a small sigh, climbing onto the other side of the bed, and curling up underneath the blankets. The barest sound of rustling clothes, and Danny looked up to see Andrew holding his arm out to him.

A small grin, and Danny wiggled closer, resting his head half on Andrew's shoulder, and half on his chest, curled up to him and yes. Yes, this was good. Andrew's arm wrapped around him, and the sigh he gave was more of contentness, than anything. It was nice, being able to have this unspoken communication with someone. Andrew squeezed him, just a tad, and turned his head. He pressed a small kiss to the top of Danny's head, giving a smile. "Good night, mon cher."

"Good night, mon ange." Andrew pulled up the covers over Danny some more, shifting to where he was half laying down, eyes still trained on his book. Turning pages with one hand, holding Danny's hand in his other, it was hard to wipe the smile away. Vidya dimmed the lights a bit, humming a low tune in Danny's head. And really, everything was just...

Perfect.


End file.
